The Dawning Of the Coming Thing
by WritePassion
Summary: Brisco was always looking for the "coming thing". One day, the "coming thing" found him, and it wasn't all it was cracked up to be.
1. Chapter 1

**The Dawning Of the Coming Thing**

By WritePassion

Dirt kicked up around him as he rode his mount into town. It was like any other town on the frontier. Low, one-story buildings with false fronts stretching to imitate a second story, and a hotel with a saloon and a church being the only buildings with honest-to-goodness height. Men and women bustled about on their errands, and they barely gave him a glance. He was sure he'd meet every one of them sooner or later. Besides, he wanted to get settled first before he got to introducing himself to the law abiding citizens of Sunset Ridge. No doubt the law-breakers would get his attention first.

He stopped in front of the brick building with a large sign announcing it was the Sheriff's Office. He dismounted, tied his chestnut steed to the post, and stomped a few days' worth of dust from his boots as he stepped onto the board sidewalk and entered the open door. He glanced around. It looked like just about every other sheriff's office in the west, but this one was different. In a few days, this would be his office.

"Brisco! Brisco County Jr.! My gosh, you're a sight for sore eyes!" The old man with his feet on the desk suddenly jumped up, hustled around it and gave him a bear hug. "My, my, my, you look so much like your mama, but you've got the determination of your father about you. It's a pleasure to finally see you after so many years."

"Did we ever meet?" Brisco asked as he studied the man intently.

"You were just a baby, a wee little toddler last time I saw you." He chuckled. "When I heard you were looking for a sheriff's position, I knew exactly who to talk to in order to make that happen. So here you are, Brisco. Here's your badge." He pinned it unceremoniously onto the lapel of Brisco's jacket and spit polished it until it reflected the sun coming in through the south facing windows. "Ah, it looks downright beautiful on ya. Congratulations, Brisco!" He pumped Brisco's hand vigorously.

"Mr. Weatherly, I didn't expect to be appointed so soon. I need to arrange for..."

"No worries, son. Your trunk arrived by stage yesterday, sent by a Mr. Socrates Poole. It's already been sent over to the hotel. Figured you'd wanna lay your head there until you establish a homestead or find other more permanent accommodations."

"Thanks, Mr. Weatherly. You've had some experience with settling in a sheriff?" Brisco watched the man, gauging his reaction to the question. Brisco had heard that the town was relatively peaceful, but there were some problems of late. The current sheriff, Mr. Weatherly, an old friend of his father's, was apparently quite eager to pass on his appointment to the far younger man.

"No, son. It's just that I'm ready to retire. I'm moving to Hot Springs. I hear it's good for the arthritis." He grinned. "I'll be leaving on tomorrow's stage, so if you have any questions, you better get 'em out in the open right now."

"Well, actually, I..."

"Oh, I've got to go finish packing, Brisco. You just make yourself at home here, and we'll have dinner tonight. You can ask me whatever you like then, okay? Okay!" He waved and rushed out of the office with a wave over his shoulder. "Have a nice day!"

"Well," Brisco said with a exhalation of breath. As he reached up to take off his hat, he glanced around the small office. To the right of the entry way, a large well-used desk stood with a comfortable chair behind it. Against the wall were two wooden file cabinets. Across the room from the desk stood a large gun cabinet filled with rifles and other firearms. It was locked. Brisco looked through the drawers in the desk, but he couldn't find a key. _Mr. Weatherly must still have it._

The adjacent jail cells were empty, two smaller ones with a larger one in back. There was only one entrance and exit to the building, and it was the one in which he entered. He settled himself in the chair behind the desk, put his feet up on the edge, and enjoyed his first moments as sheriff. It was peaceful, but somehow he doubted it would stay that way for long.

* * *

><p>She worked hard for her money, and she worked even harder to prepare herself for the after-show party that she intended to have with one Mr. Brisco County Jr. Dixie Cousins powdered her nose one last time, grinned at herself in the mirror, practicing her seductive smile. Not that she needed any of that. When she saw that man, something inside her sang brighter than her voice on stage, and her smile was natural, full of passion for a man she loved but could never seem to obtain for more than an occasional night of heat that left her shivering in the cold whenever he was away. No other man could satisfy her like Brisco, and until he was hers completely, she was incomplete.<p>

Dixie threw a wrap over her shoulders, left the dressing room behind the Golden Horseshoe Saloon, and stepped out into the night. She didn't have far to go, just upstairs. As her feet tapped up the wooden steps, she wondered if he would be waiting for her, or if he was off rounding up some outlaw. She sighed. That was the one thing that hampered their relationship more than anything else; his constant need to capture every criminal in the west. If only he would settle down in one place and just deal with that little corner of the world! How many times she said that very thing to him!

_"Brisco, there are just too many bad men out there! You can't get them all!" She exclaimed as she blotted at the remains of blood on his upper arm where one of his quarry had shot him. Good thing it wasn't farther to the right. That's all she could think as she tended to him. That and how he was pursuing justice to death._

_ "You just want me to settle down in a town somewhere so I'll settle down with you. You know that's it." _

_ "Is something so bad about that?" She tenderly swept back his wavy hair from his forehead._

_ "No, I guess not. I just...I just like the open spaces. Would I really be happy staying in one place all the time?"_

_ "You've made San Francisco your home base. That's settled, if you ask me."_

_ Brisco sighed. "I'm not sure I'm ready for that, Dix." He was exhausted and fell into a deep sleep while Dixie caressed his forehead._

_ She placed a kiss there and whispered, "You're a stubborn man, Brisco. But I'm a stubborn woman, and I'll be waiting. No matter how long it takes." She lightly kissed his lips. "I love you."_

Dixie was at the top of the stairs and entered the hallway. She knew exactly which room was his, because she'd been there more than a few times. She knocked twice, knocked twice again. Their secret call. She didn't hear him beckon her, and she hoped that didn't mean that he was riding off to find another outlaw.

She used the key he gave her to get inside. It was dark and she heard soft snoring. Dixie smiled. _Poor baby, he worked so hard today, he's out cold. That's okay, I can wait._ She locked the door behind her, tossed her wrap on the chair. She couldn't see it, but she knew where it was. By the time she reached the bed, she'd removed her dress and was in her underthings and stockings. A sly smile crossed her features as she barely made out the prostrate form on the bed and put her knee on the mattress, preparing to crawl over to him and sit astride...

The figure snorted, sat up in bed, and turned up the lamp. "Miss Dixie?"

"Bowler!" She unconsciously crossed her arms over her chest. "W-what are you doing here? Where's Brisco?"

"Didn't he tell you? He was goin' off to Sunset Ridge. He's the new sheriff there." He sniffed. "Personally, I think it's the most ridiculous thing I ever heard, Brisco County Jr, Sheriff."

"I think it sounds mighty fine," Dixie smiled. "It's about time he settled down, don't you think?"

Lord Bowler grumbled under his breath. "It just messes up the perfectly good symbiotic relationship we had, Dixie."

"Symbiotic, huh? Someone's been reading their dictionary." She smirked and got off the bed. "Sunset Ridge, huh? How far away is that?"

"There's a stage that goes there, takes about a half day." He grinned and gave her one of his goofy laughs. "You thinkin' of goin' out there and surprisin' him, Miss Dixie?"

She nodded. "Although, it'll be more like a mission to find out why he didn't tell me he was leaving. Was he ever planning on coming back for me, or even telling me where he went?"

"Oh now, you know he'd never leave you hanging like that! He loves you!"

Her eyebrow went up. Lord Bowler, a man of few words when it came to matters of the heart, saw what she herself knew a long time ago. Brisco loved her, but they could never seem to get their timing right. All that was going to change now. With him settling into a sheriff's job in a town, their chances of a future just got a whole lot brighter.

She quickly dressed behind the screen. "Bowler, please don't tell Brisco I'm coming. I want it to be a surprise."

"You got it, Miss Dixie."

"Good night." She dropped the key on the night stand and left the room.

"Good luck," Bowler wished with a hint of humor in his tone. _Brisco and Miss Dixie are finally going to settle down. Won't that be somethin'!_

* * *

><p>Brisco was in town for less than twenty four hours, and trouble was already brewing. The town was so small, they had only one saloon, but that was enough to bring out the rowdies when the sun went down. He broke up two fist fights, stopped a gunfight in the street, and an assault on a saloon girl. By the time the saloon closed for the night, he was worn out and fell asleep on a cot behind the sheriff's desk. It was just as well, because he wasn't about to get a good night's rest.<p>

He heard heels clomping on the floorboards and woke with a start. Three men stood near the door looking around. Brisco got up and reached for the lamp, raising the wicks on each one on the wall behind him and the desk lamp. He squinted at the men. They were dressed in denim jeans, flannel shirts, and wore strange hats that covered their heads, but the brims were cut off so only a short piece hovered above their faces.

"Can I help you gentlemen?"

"You the sheriff here?"

Brisco's left hand rested on his gun handle casually as he replied and came around the desk. "Yes, I am. Brisco County, Jr."

He eyed their rifles. They didn't look like anything he'd ever seen before. They were sleeker, but more menacing looking. The leader took a step forward and let fly a wad of chewing tobacco. It pinged on the spittoon rim before sliding down into the dark bowl.

"Name's Brackett. These are my boys. We're kinda new in town, just thought we'd check things out. Hope y'all don't mind."

"Why should I? You're not planning on committing any mayhem while you're here, are you? Then I'd mind."

"Nope. Just tryin' to settle a bet. That's all. Now, where's the saloon?" Spit. Ping. Slide.

"Sorry, it's closed right now. I believe it opens up again at eight tomorrow."

"Mister, we've come a long way for some good old frontier whiskey. We can't wait until tomorrow."

Brisco smiled. "I'm sorry to disappoint you fellas, but the frontier whiskey isn't worth the trip, and it stays locked up until tomorrow, eight o'clock. Town ordinance, you know."

Brackett's shoulders shrugged. "Well, thank you for your time, Sheriff. Boys, let's scat. See if we can find a more...hospitable town."

"But Brack, we only have a half hour and then the window..."

"Shut up, Scotty! Don't worry about that. We came here to have some fun, and we're gonna have some fun. Show them fellas at that big ole university that they don't know what they're talkin' about."

"What are you talking about," Brisco asked, his brow wrinkled.

The third man laughed, and it was more like a wheeze. "We built a time machine out of Brack's Chevy truck!"

"Shut up!" Brackett yelled and slapped the man across the face with the back of his hand. "Nobody from here is supposed to know that! Now you've gone and ruined everything! Come on!" He grabbed the man by the arm and hauled him out of the office. Scotty glanced at Brisco, grinned self-consciously, and ran after his friends, leaving the new sheriff to stand alone in the room slowly shaking his head.

"Must be something in the water here."

A loud roar and an explosion caught his attention, and Brisco grabbed his hat off the peg near the door and dashed out into the street to see what the commotion was about. In the middle of the street, a large boxy conveyance shuddered on four fat wheels. Its rear end glowed red. Ahead of it, the town was bathed in white light. Scotty and the other man stood up in the flat bed hanging onto a bar with yellow lights on it.

"Yeehaw! Come on, Brack, gun it!"

The back wheels kicked up dirt into Brisco's face. He flailed and sputtered, the grit stinging his eyes. When his vision cleared, he watched as the four wheeled vehicle drove round and round the wide street without benefit of horses for propulsion. He couldn't help but smile. "It's one of those things. The coming thing! A horseless carriage!"

The carriage ran up the street and passed him, then turned around at the edge of town and quickly returned. It growled and roared as it neared, and Brisco had to jump out of the way or risk being run over by it. The men laughed as they passed. The driver turned the wheel sharply and took the vehicle into an arc that sent it crashing onto the boardwalk and through the saloon wall. Before the dust settled, the two men jumped off the bed. Brackett backed it up into the street, and the two ran inside and came out quickly with bottles of whiskey. They howled with laughter and threw themselves into the cab with their friend, and then took off.

Brisco whistled. "Comet! Come on!"

Comet, who stood contentedly munching on some hay in the corral, perked up at Brisco's call. He trotted to the back of the small space, galloped and leaped over the fence. Brisco grabbed his mane, launched himself onto Comet's bare back, and took off after them. They tore out of town and toward the east. Brisco found himself gaining on them. He suspected that the horseless carriage had more speed than one horse, but they were unfamiliar with the road and had to drive slower. He looked up and saw a light in the east, just beyond the rock outcropping on the left. It was too early for sunrise. Rays of light radiated from it and swirled in a cascade of rainbow colors. It mesmerized him. But Comet only concentrated on catching up to the vehicle ahead of them.

Suddenly, Brisco felt as if something were pulling at him and Comet. The carriage disappeared into the light. Before he could stop his horse, he found that whatever it was had captured them and sucked them into a vortex. It was dark inside, and he couldn't see the red and white lights of the carriage. He and Comet were alone, and everything around him was as black as coal ink.

Comet's hoofs landed on something harder than the trail. It jarred his legs and the vibration worked up through Brisco's body. The horse slowed as they both heard his hoofs clip clopping on the surface. It sounded like cobblestones, only the road below them was smooth. Brisco stopped Comet, turned him around in a slow circle, and studied the dark gray road in the light of a lantern that shone brightly above them. Its bright globe was almost like daylight it was so bright. Everything beyond it was hidden in a cloak of darkness.

They were on a hill overlooking a small town. Judging by how far they'd ridden, it had to be Sunset Ridge. But it didn't look right. He shouldn't have been able to see anything at this hour, but the town twinkled like a sea of diamonds, and a string of them worked up the road from the town to where he was. He turned again and let his eyes adjust to the darkness beyond the bright light. He saw the outcropping, but it looked different. Part of it was missing.

"Comet, what do you make of this?"

Comet snuffled in response.

"Someone's playing an elaborate trick on us. That's what I think." He turned the horse toward the twinkling lights. "Okay, let's go back to town, get some shut-eye, and in the morning maybe we can figure out what's going on." A big yawn escaped him. "Or maybe I'm just dreaming all this."

He rode Comet down the hill toward the town, and with each clomp of a hoof, Brisco felt more and more uncertain about where they were. An occasional homestead cropped up far from the road, with a few much closer. They looked like mansions, and each one had a wide paved road leading up to a large rectangular door, and another narrow walkway leading to the front door. Small boxes stuck up from the ground near the edge of the road bearing numbers on one side, and a metal flag on the other. He didn't have time to study them more intently. He needed to get some sleep, because this was obviously some strange dream, and the sooner daylight came, the sooner he would be done with it.

Brisco urged Comet forward at a canter. It was still slow enough for him to check out the surroundings but still get him back to town in a short timeframe. He came across an area where there were no houses or other buildings, just lights over the street. He saw a pair of lights moving at a good speed along the cross road coming toward him, so he kept an eye on them to see if it was that horseless carriage coming back. Brisco knew the road as the trail that eventually led to Poker Flats. The two lights kept coming, but he was already in the intersection. Something squealed just as Comet screamed and reared up. Brisco felt himself falling off Comet's back, and suddenly his trusty steed wasn't there anymore. For one brief second, he was floating in midair. Brisco landed hard onto his back with a clatter, and the momentum caused him to roll toward a wide window.

Beyond it in a faint green glow, he saw the shocked driver's face just before his forearm hit the glass and his head impacted with it. His still form lay across the hood of the horseless carriage as the woman inside screamed helplessly. Comet limped away to stand just out of the headlights. If he could, he would have run for help, but there was something wrong with his leg. If he could have called out, he would have. But he was just a horse. All he could do was wait.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Brisco felt as if he'd run straight into the cowcatcher on a freight train. His head throbbed and his brain felt as if it were trying to bust out of his skull. His left arm, when he turned his wrist slightly, sent shooting pains up to his shoulder. And his back felt numb except for the little pinpricks of pain dancing all over from his shoulders down to his hips. At least his legs didn't hurt, although they hung off the side of the contraption on which he lay. If he could just get up on them, maybe he'd be okay. Moving anything, however, was out of the question.

"No! Stay still, mister! Please!"

The woman's frantic voice alarmed him enough to stop trying. Instead, he just groaned.

"Oh, please get someone out here quick! I think he's dying!"

_Is she talking to me? _Brisco tried to raise his head to look at her, to even find where the voice was coming from, but when he moved his head just the tiniest bit, intense pain slammed him, and with another helpless groan, he lost consciousness.

The next time he awoke, Brisco found himself lying on a hard surface. The paved stone? No, it was something else. His fingers brushed it. It felt like varnished wood, but when he weakly tapped it with his fingernails, it didn't sound right. He scrunched up his eyes against the pain and he grimaced. _Shouldn't have used my left hand to do that._

"Kelly, he's coming to."

Brisco opened his eyes slowly, but then someone put a blue gloved hand up to his face, pried open one pair of lids and shone a really really bright light into his eye.

"Hey, whatcha doin," he mumbled and tried to struggle to get away from the beam, but they only moved it to his other eye. "What...what's happening?" He tugged on the restraints that held him down. His head was immobilized, as was his neck, shoulders, arms, all the way down his body. He'd never been bound like this before. "Hey, you can't do this. I'm the Sheriff!"

A beautiful blonde woman's face swam above him. She wore a strange white blouse with a badge on it, and a metal plate. When she smiled, she looked just like...

"Dixie. Dix, wha...what's going on?"

"Don't you remember what happened, mister? You were hit by a car. Ran right through a stop sign and turned you into a hood ornament. You're lucky to be alive."

"Com...Comet. Is-is he okay?"

"He's been taken to a horse veterinarian. They don't think they'll have to put him down." She paused and took what looked like a stethoscope from around her neck. She plugged her ears with one end and placed something cool on his chest, listened in several places down his torso. Some spots hurt when she touched them, and then she replaced it around her neck. "We're more worried about you right now. My name is Kelly. My partner Vic and I are going to take good care of you. Can you tell me your name?"

"Yeah. Brisco. Brisco County, Jr." He was finding it hard to get air. "Can you please...please loosen up these bindings? It's kind of hard to breathe."

Kelly frowned. "Vic, get that O2 hooked up."

"I'm on it."

"It's okay, Brisco. You've probably got some broken ribs, and we have to keep you on the backboard, so I'm afraid we can't do anything about the restraints. We'll give you some oxygen, see if that makes you feel better."

Vic lowered a clear mask over Brisco's face and he panicked. His breath came in short gasps, and he suddenly felt as if he were floating. Spots danced before his eyes, yet he could still hear their voices blending with those of people in the background. He wondered what happened, where he was, what all the fuss was about. What was with the flashing red and blue lights?

Brisco felt an uncomfortable squeezing on his right upper arm. Just when he thought he couldn't handle it anymore, he heard a hissing noise and it stopped cutting off his circulation. "His BP is dropping, Kel."

"Let's load him up and get him to Eastman. I'll stabilize him in the wagon." Someone threw a blanket over him up to his chin.

_Okay, they're taking me somewhere. But where is Eastman? _He felt himself rising, and he sensed other people around him. Through slitted eyes he watched the concerned looks on the faces directly overhead. They wore heavy coats with reflective strips on them, and large yellow helmets on their heads The board they tied him to lowered onto a soft surface, and someone placed another belt over him near his waist. All the movement unsettled him, and his stomach suddenly decided to rebel.

Kelly looked down at him, and her eyes widened slightly. "Guys, turn him, now!" She pulled the mask off Brisco's face just in time, as the others grabbed the board and turned him to the side. He vomited onto the pavement the last of the contents of his stomach. If his ribs were sore before, they were excruciating now. He let out an agonized cry and tried holding his breath, but another wave came. When he was done, they laid him flat again and Vic swiped at his mouth to clean up the remnants.

"Brisco, can you hear me?" It was her again. The one who called herself Kelly.

"Yes."

"How are you feeling?"  
><em>Did she really have to ask that?<em> "Uhm, I've been better."

She smiled. "Okay, we're going to try this again and get you in the ambulance and take you to the hospital. Is there anyone we can call for you?"

"Call?"

"Yeah. The cops didn't find a cell phone on you, or any kind of emergency contact."

Brisco couldn't fathom what she was talking about. _A cell phone? What was that? _ Before he could answer her, he fell back into the oblivion of unconsciousness, finding it hard to breathe again until the mask returned to his face. He quickly learned not to fear it. He also began to realize something else. He'd always been looking for the 'coming thing'. Somehow, he'd run head-first right into the middle of it. And it wasn't as great as he thought it would be.

The oxygen being pumped through the mask into his lungs reminded Brisco of the underwater suit that Dr. Wickwire had developed, and how it had helped to bring down, literally, one of Bly's gang. In the right hands, it could be a useful tool. Obviously, someone had taken the concept a step further and implemented it to help save lives. He did feel a lot better with the pure oxygen flowing. If only his body could stop hurting so much!

Something squeezed his arm as he woke up and he realized that it was that artificial boa constrictor again. He spied the intense look in Kelly's eyes. He must have been inside the wagon she referred to. Everything was bathed in a bright whiteness, but beyond her he saw cabinets holding medical supplies. A shrill wailing, interspersed with a strange whooping sound assaulted his ears. He cringed.

"It's okay, this won't hurt, just a little prick."

"Ahhhh," Brisco's cry was muffled by the mask. He felt a prick alright, but it seemed as if she stabbed him with a knife. Something plunged into his skin. The boa constrictor died with a hissing sigh. She pulled out a strip of some sticky substance, affixed the needle to his arm, and attached a tube to the end. He soon sensed a cool liquid flowing into his vein.

"What...what are you doing?"

She finished attaching the tubing to his skin as she replied, "I'm just putting in an IV. We need to get some fluids in you to help you stabilize, and we can administer medications through the port. That way we don't have to stick you again. So that first one is a doozy, but it's for the best." She smiled at him reassuringly and hung an odd transparent bag onto a hook over his head. "It's okay, Brisco. I wouldn't do anything to hurt you." She reached toward his face and brushed the wave of dark hair away from his forehead. Her hand was cool even through the blue covering. Her smile wavered a little, but she kept it pasted on just for him. "We'll be there in a few minutes. Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Nah." He tried to shake his head, but he'd forgotten that he was held in place by a collar around his neck and some chucks blocking his peripheral vision. "Maybe..."

"Maybe, what?" She leaned closer. Her warm breath felt good on his face.

Brisco always liked to think he was brave and strong, but at this moment he was as scared as a little child. "Hold my hand. Please?"

"Sure." She removed the glove and made skin to skin contact with him. "Better?"

"Yeahhhhh." At that moment, it felt almost as good as one of Dixie's kisses. But this wasn't Dixie. And somehow, he had the feeling that he wasn't in 1893 anymore.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Fear and curiosity helped Brisco fight to stay conscious. So many strange things were happening to him and around him, he didn't want to miss anything. If this was the 'coming thing', it would be a darn shame if he slept through it. The wagon came to a stop and then backed up. He heard a steady beep beep beep, and that too stopped along with the wagon. The double doors opened, something clicked underneath him, and then the bed on which he lay was rolled out the back. More strangers' faces surrounded him. His eyes darted around looking for Kelly. He was afraid she was leaving. But then she jumped down from the wagon and was there above him. She patted his head and helped them move the wheeled bed inside.

"His name is Brisco County, approximately 35 years of age, appears to be in good health. Last BP check was 80 over 50, pulse 75, respirations assisted at 25. Good breath sounds on the right, limited on the left. Fractured left clavicle and left arm, possibly the ulna. Brisco has been in and out of consciousness and vomited twice on scene."

Brisco tried to listen to her speech as they rolled him into a bustling area, but the overhead lights and medical personnel moving swiftly around the rolling stretcher made him feel dizzy.

"Sir, are you feeling nauseous?"

"Yes."

"Just keep your eyes closed. We'll have you settled in just a moment."

It was all so overwhelming, Brisco had no choice. He finally succumbed to the weight of unconsciousness.

Radiology. MRI. Concussion. Hematoma. Pneumothorax. Foreign words that meant something to someone swirled around in Brisco's head. Part of him wanted to wake up, but majority ruled, and he stayed under a cloak of darkness for two days. As he slowly came back to the land of the living, he first smelled alcohol, but he wasn't in a saloon. That much was certain. Then he heard an occasional beep, followed by other blips and tweets. Something clamped onto his index finger. It was uncomfortable, so he managed to get it off, but then a terrible whining buzz came from somewhere near his ear.

"Mr. County, you need to keep that monitor on your finger," the voice told him. "Don't make me tape that in place, honey!"

He slowly opened his eyes, because he had an overwhelming desire to see the author of that voice. She sounded like a woman with an opinion about everything, and her accent and diction reminded him of Lord Bowler. He focused on the cocoa brown skin of a thin woman with brightly colored garb like all the other medical personnel wore the last time his eyes had been open.

"Well, look at that! I finally get a gander at those beautiful brown eyes of yours." She smiled at him with big white teeth. "My name is Patreecia, long 'e' baby, so if you need anything, you just hit this button and I'll come running." She adjusted the covers around him. "How you feelin' today, Mr. County?"

"I...I don't know. Dis-disoriented, I guess." He noticed the mask was gone, and in it's place they stuck something under his nose. He reached up for it, but she held his hand down.

"Uh uh, honey, you gotta keep that there too. It's for your own good."

"Where am I?"

"You're at Eastman Hospital. Do you remember how you got here?"

"Accident."

"That's right, honey. You've been out of it for two days now. The doc'll be happy to hear you're awake." She checked some figures on a colorful board displaying letters, numbers, and continuous lines snaking across it above his head, then turned to a screen and tapped on a board.

"What...what is that?" He pointed to the device.

"It's a computer. I'm recording all your vitals." She took time answering all his questions, and every answer made his head swim. It all sounded like Greek to him. He closed his eyes.

"Gettin' tired?"

"Mhmmm. Hey, what day is it?"

"It's Monday. If you ever want to know the date, just look at that board on the wall over by the foot of your bed. It'll help you keep track of time, at least a little bit." She patted his shoulder. "I have to go take care of some other patients, honey, but I'll be back later to check on you."

"Thanks." Brisco's eyes drifted over to the board. For the first time, he realized that his neck was no longer confined and he could move his head any which way he wanted. Not that it felt any better when he moved it, but at least he wasn't tied down anymore. _Monday, April 2, 2012. 2012? Good Lord, how did that happen!_

Brisco was lightly sleeping when he heard shuffling on the floor. His eyes opened and he saw her again. She looked so different out of her uniform, wearing a long tunic with skin tight knee-length pants that left little to the imagination. _Do all these women dress like this? So much bare skin! It's as if saloon girls have taken over the world!_

"Hi Brisco. How are you?"

"I guess I'm okay. Still not sure what's all going on."

"I came by yesterday but you were still out. You've really been through a lot." She stopped beside the bed and covered his hand with hers. "You feel cooler, more normal since the last time we touched. Your color's better too. Looks like they're taking good care of you."

"Yeah. I'm just really confused right now. How did I get here?"

"We brought you in the ambulance..."

"No, how did I get to the year 2012?"

Kelly laughed. Well, let's see. How old are you?"

"I'm 35." She was good when she guessed his age upon their arrival at the hospital.

"Well then, that means you were born in 1977."

"No, I was born in 1858."

She laughed again. "Oh, that's cute, Brisco. The whole western getup, the tin star, and when you said you were the sheriff, that was just too precious. Now you say you were born in 1858. That would make you 154 years old." When she smiled, she again looked like Dixie, and then she purred just like Dixie as she flirted. "You look pretty good for your age."

But Brisco did not look amused, and when Kelly realized he was serious, she sobered. "You really believe you came from 1893?"

"Yes, I did." He quickly told her about the circumstances, meeting the three men with the vehicle, and the strange swirling light and how he and Comet were drawn into it. When he finished, she was dumbstruck. He expected her to look at him as if he were crazy, but she didn't. She believed him.

"That is one wild story, Brisco. But if we could find these guys you saw back in 1893, they could corroborate your story. And maybe they know how to get you back home."

"I'd like to stay for awhile, at least see what the future is like outside this hospital." He glanced toward the window. All he could see were mountains. Beautiful mountains, but nothing that would give him any indication that he was in the 21st century.

"You're going to be laid up for awhile. You've got some broken bones that are going to have to heal. Which brings us to quite the dilemma."

"What do you mean?" He turned and looked at her with questions in his eyes.

"They'll probably release you in about a week. But after that, where will you go? There's no one out there waiting for you." There was a sadness in her tone that touched him. They barely knew each other, but she cared about him and what happened after he left the hospital.

A sudden empty sensation came over him. He hadn't felt like this since his dad died and he was all alone in the world. But he had his friends...only by now, Dixie, Lord Bowler, and Socrates were all long gone, footnotes in history. He screwed up his eyes to prevent the sting of tears.

"Brisco, it's okay. I'm your friend." Kelly's soft voice soothed him as she swept her hand over that silky dark wave that covered his forehead. "I usually make it a policy not to get involved with patients, but...for you, I can make an exception. Due to extenuating circumstances and all." She grinned.

It was so strange, because this girl looked like Dixie and some of the things she said sounded like what Dixie might say, but her voice was so different. No southern belle accent, and not as deep.

"Thank you, Kelly. I'm indebted to you."

"Not a problem." She pulled a chair near to the bed and picked up a small rectangular box that she found hanging from the side of the bed. "Now, if you want to learn about the 21st century, I suggest you watch a little television. But proceed with caution, and I'll help translate when necessary." She smiled, touched a button, and the screen up on the wall came to life.

Brisco's eyes lit up at the sights and sounds on the device that Kelly called a flat screen television. She hit a button and lowered the volume, which was good because when it first turned on, the sound nearly blasted him out of his bed.

"Commercials." She turned to him. "I hate 'em." She noted his puzzled expression and elaborated. "They're like ads in a newspaper, only with movement and sound. Everything on TV moves. Just watch." She changed the channel and two people sat on an overstuffed couch onscreen.

"Today my guest is Jenny Samson, author of the hot new bestseller..." Kelly changed channels.

"Don't care much for her, either. The talk show host."

"Talk show. People watch a show where other people just sit and talk?"

"Yeah, that's about it. Sometimes they'll have a singer or a comedian on, but yeah, usually it's just talk talk talk." Kelly moved her hand as if it were a mouth and then placed it over her own mouth and faked a yawn.

"Well, what do you like to watch on this contraption?"

Kelly smiled. "Let's see if it's on."

She flipped quickly through the stations. Brisco tried to keep up with the flickering images. More people talking. Talking. Talking. A man talking with a picture of a man with a long beard behind him. A show where two people stood before a giant wheel with numbers on it, and the man stood by while the woman pulled on it.

"What's that?"

"Huh? Oh, just a game show."

"Game show." He nodded. "Very fancy."

She stopped flipping and came to a scene with white sand and palm trees. "Ah, here we are. My favorite show."

Brisco watched in silence and listened as the two actors on screen stood near a black vehicle and talked. They wore dark glasses over their eyes, and the woman was barely dressed. The man was well built and wore a shirt that showed off his muscles. Through the course of the next hour he saw them get into a chase, with lots of gunfire and things blowing up. It kind of reminded him of some of the outlaws he'd had to deal with, only these people were using the same tools and tactics to thwart the bad guys. They had a sidekick, an older man who in some ways reminded Brisco of himself. _Wonder if I'll look like that in 20 years?_

"What is the name of that show?"

"It's called Burned. Love it." She sighed. "Makes me want to go to Miami and see how much of the scenery and stuff is for real." She grinned. "Oh cool, they're having a marathon!" As a new episode started, she asked, "Care to watch another one?"

"Sure, why not? The first one was odd, but entertaining."

"Great!"

She continued to explain things to Brisco as the episode unfolded, but he tried to keep his questions for the commercial breaks, which came at an annoying frequency. In between times, he watched the show, found himself sucked in to the fast pace and fancy locations, and couldn't believe that women actually walked city streets wearing practically nothing. It stirred up things inside him, and he wondered how a man could watch for hours on end without an outlet for those feelings. He looked at Kelly as her eyes were glued to the screen when the dark haired man was speaking. Until he saw the look on her face, he wondered why she watched.

Kelly caught him looking at her and she blushed. "Yeah, it's crazy that a woman would like a spy show, but the little bit of eye candy, the friendships among the main characters, and the stories themselves...I mean, they're always helping the little guy win in the end. Doesn't that appeal to you?"

"Yes. Yes it does. I've tried to make a career out of helping the little guy, and so far it's worked."

Kelly smiled warmly. "Me too. It's a lot more satisfying than anything else, isn't it." Her eyes locked on Brisco's, and for the first time he noted that hers were brown too, just like Dixie's. It was so hard not to resist the electricity building up between them. Kelly must have felt it too, because she forgot about the show and focused only on him. He licked his lips nervously. With the effects created by the 'eye candy' on the screen, and the smoldering look he thought he saw in Kelly's eyes, it was nearly impossible to restrain himself from acting upon it. He moved toward her slightly, and a sharp pain brought him back to reality.

Brisco grimaced, and Kelly's brow knit in concern. "What hurts, Brisco?" She was suddenly all professional and looked up at the monitor. His heart rate had risen, but that trend started as he was watching the television. This was something completely different.

"It's...it's okay. I shouldn't have moved, that's all," he gasped out as he lay back against the mattress.

"Here, let me raise the head up a little more. Maybe that'll make it easier to see."

He nodded. "Much better. This bed...it's quite the invention."

"This bed is the latest in technology."

"The coming thing," Brisco whispered.

"Huh?" She looked at him strangely.

"The coming thing. I was always looking for it, but now, now that I've found it...in such an...abrupt manner, I'm not so sure it was all that worth finding." He was tired. Kelly turned off the television and ran her hand through his hair as he slowly drifted off to sleep.

"Shhh, Brisco. Once we get you out of here, you'll see. The coming thing isn't so bad." When she realized he was asleep, she continued to touch him, caressing the side of his face where a few days of stubble grew. "Ahh, Brisco. I wonder if there's a woman back in time waiting for you. What would she think about you being here? A good man like you is so hard to find these days. I'll just have to make it my mission to protect you from those barracudas, and maybe, just maybe, you might find someone...someone that will make it worth staying."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

With each passing day, Brisco found his strength returning and his injuries healing. As Kelly speculated, he was out in a week but with nowhere to go and still needing outside care, he was at a loss of what to do. But first, he had to get dressed, which was a major task in itself. He was dismayed to find that they cut most of his clothes off in the emergency room, which Kelly said was where he first arrived. Everything above the waist was gone: his undershirt, the blue cotton shirt that felt so soft and comfortable, his leather vest and leather jacket. All he had left was the tin star, his bandana, and his hat. His pants, socks, and underwear had been washed, and his boots lovingly taken care of. But after an orderly helped him with his clothes, the ones he had left, he sat on the edge of the bed with his left forearm in a cast and a sling, feeling lost, cold, and exhausted. Who would have known that getting dressed would be so tiring.

"Hey, Brisco." Kelly greeted him with a bright smile as she entered the room. In one hand she carried a white bag that rustled when she set it down beside him. As she spoke, she took in the sight of his bare chest and he could tell that she liked what she saw. "I hope you don't mind, I went to the store and picked up a few things for you." She reached into the bag and pulled out a blue shirt. It wasn't like the one he lost, but the color was close. He rubbed the fabric between his fingers. "I know, it's not as good as what you had. Don't worry, I know a place where we can probably find some of those shirts, and a new jacket."

"It's okay. You don't have to..."

Kelly stopped him with a finger on her lips. "No, I want to do this for you. I know it seems strange, but I like you. I really do. We've had some time to talk and get to know one another, and I want to help. I want to be your friend. And...if anything else happens, well, so be it." She smiled and held out the shirt for him to step into. "Come on, let's get you dressed and out of here, and I'll take you to my place I have a spare room you can sleep in. First, I want to run to the grocery store and pick up a few items. I'll make it quick, 'cause I can see you're already getting tired."

"I don't know what it is, but I don't seem to have any energy."

"Yeah, well, running smack dab into the windshield of a car coming at you at about thirty five miles per hour will do that to you."

He slipped his good arm into a sleeve and turned to face her. "Thirty five miles per hour?"  
>"Yep." She carefully worked the other sleeve over his cast and up his arm, and rested the fabric lightly on his shoulder. Then she replaced the splint and buttoned up the front. "That's why I said you were lucky to be alive." She started at the bottom with the buttons, working her way up. Her knuckles gently brushed his stomach and chest, his chest hairs prickling against them. Her touch started something in him, but he had to remind himself that this wasn't Dixie, no matter what he saw, heard…and felt. She finished buttoning him and reached for the tails to tuck them in.<p>

"Uh, I think I can do that." Brisco tried, but it was a failure. He couldn't get them tucked in enough, so with a look of chagrin, he allowed her to finish.

She got the message. He wasn't interested in her, despite what his body said. _Such a shame, too. He is one hot piece of cowboy. No, it's better this way. I could get into trouble for romancing a former patient. Risky enough to be taking him in, but if I don't, where will he wind up?_

"Well, you look presentable now. Except for the scruff. But we'll pick up some razors, and you can take care of that when we get to the apartment. Or I can shave you too, if you like."

"I'll, uh, see how I do on my own first, if you don't mind. I don't want you to have to do everything for me. I have to get back on my own two feet as soon as possible."

"That's right. You're homesick, aren't you."

She hit the nail on the head. Brisco nodded. "I'm afraid this is just all too much for me, and I'd rather be back there, where I know things, and it's not so...complicated."

Kelly laughed. "There are a lot of people who would love to be in your position, to live back then. I'm not so sure I'd like it. I'm used to technology, just a simple thing like my computer, or my smartphone. I think it would drive me nuts if I didn't have access to the internet for a week, let alone the rest of my life."

"Smartphone? Your phone has a brain? And what is a phone, anyway?"

Kelly gently pushed Brisco out of the room and laughed at his questions. "Sorry, that was just so funny. Some of the things you ask, they alter my perspective on things. I mean, when you say smartphone, it just sounds so ridiculous. But this is what it is." She pulled her phone out of her purse and showed him. "It's main purpose is to talk to other people, like a telegraph but with voice. But it has all these things on it. It can tell me what the weather is like outside, and what the forecast is for the next ten days."

"And that's accurate?"

"Relatively." She grinned. "Although, despite all the equipment they have to predict the weather, sometimes I think they're better off just tying a rock to a string and hanging it outside." He looked at her uncomprehendingly, and she shook her head. "Anyway, I can also find out where a restaurant is, what the latest specials are at the supermarket, and well, a lot of other things I can do with it. That's why it's called a smartphone."

"I see." He nodded. They stepped out into the bright sunshine and she put a pair of dark lensed glasses over her eyes. "I had a friend who invented those."

"What, sunglasses?" She giggled and shook her head, her curls flaring out and sparkling in the light. "Brisco, sunglasses have been around for a long, long time. I think they're older than you are." She watched as Brisco put on his hat to shield his eyes. "That hat looks very dashing on you. I like it."

"Thank you." He tore his eyes away from hers and looked around at the sea of vehicles before them. "So, where do we go now?"

"Over there. That's my car." She pointed to a pumpkin orange vehicle. Brisco followed her. When they got close, he heard a pop and stopped. "I was just unlocking it. It's okay. Just lift up on the handle and get in."

He sat in the soft seat and ran his hand over it. It felt like leather, but it didn't smell like it.

"It's vinyl. Fake leather. I make some okay money, but not enough to have leather seats. Sorry."

"No problem." He was already picking up on the vernacular.

"Oh, and before we go anywhere, put on your seatbelt. We are not going to risk you getting hurt again if we get into an accident."

"These horseless carriages are quite dangerous. People should be more careful when they're driving them."

"Oh, Brisco, if you only knew how true that is!" She reached across and pulled on the strap, stretching it across his chest and clicking it into place all in a strictly platonic manner. "There." She put her own strap on before starting the vehicle.

Brisco watched her turn the key, put her foot on the horizontal pedal, and move the knob to a place labeled 'R'. She looked all around before backing out of the space, then repeated the process, only putting the lever into 'D'. She steered with the wheel, signaled her turns with a stick alongside the wheel, and kept using the mirrors to see where other drivers were. Driving a vehicle was certainly more complicated than driving a horse and wagon.

He suddenly remembered that he wasn't alone after all. He still had Comet, as far as he knew. "Kelly."

"Yeah?" She glanced at him.

"Do you know where Comet is?"

"Yes, I do." She turned in to another field of vehicles that she called a parking lot and found an empty space. "Maybe this afternoon we can go see him. Would you like that?"

"Yes, I would. I feel bad that I haven't thought of him. He's going to be cross with me, I just know it."

Kelly chuckled. "Well, maybe we can get him some sugar cubes. Will that appease him?"

"Not really. Green apples are his favorite."

"We're in the right place for those." Kelly grabbed the handle of a large metal basket on wheels and pushed it into the store.

Brisco gaped at the selection of produce. He'd never seen so much food in one place before. Kelly went straight for the fruit section and picked up a clear bag full of green apples.

"Think that'll be enough?"

"Oh, Kelly," Brisco said with a grin. "You give him that, and Comet will spurn me for you in an instant."

She laughed and their eyes met. He thought she had such a beautiful laugh, the kind that made him think of warmth and sunshine. But he had to stop thinking of her that way. Instead, he concentrated on following her through the grocery store. It was nothing like the general stores of his time, and the variety and selection of items was mind-boggling. Just a simple thing like coffee: if he'd had to choose, Brisco thought he would have been in the aisle for an hour trying to decide. Kelly, however, knew what she wanted. She grabbed a box of single serving containers that she said went into her coffee machine. _What an odd way to refer to a coffee pot!_

"I'm sorry. I should ask what kind of coffee you like?"

"Um, black?"

Her nose crinkled up when she grinned, and she grabbed a box just for him. Then he saw the sticker on the shelf. "Is...is that right? That box cost $10.99?"

"Yeahhh, I know they're kind of pricey. But it's cheaper than going to the coffee shop every morning. Seriously, don't worry about it! Come on, let's go, I still have a few things to get, and you need a bunch of toiletries." She moved on, and he followed again, looking closer at the prices on the shelves. _People in this time must be millionaires to afford these prices! This is outrageous!_

"Okay, here's all the toothbrushes, toothpaste, etcetera, etcetera. I'll leave you here to pick out what you need, and I'll be back in a few minutes. We'll save some time this way and get you home, I mean, to your temporary home, so you can rest."

Five minutes later she returned and found him with a toothbrush in his hand and not much else.

"I can't find the razors," he said.

"That's because they don't look like what you're accustomed to," Kelly replied as she picked up a package of disposables and tossed them into the cart along with a can of shaving cream. She noted how nervous he seemed to be picking through such personal items, so she did him a favor and just grabbed what she knew he'd need and headed for the checkout. "Come on, I'll take you home, make some lunch, and then you can rest for a bit before we go see Comet."

"Thanks. For everything." With his good arm, he helped her set the bags into the back of her vehicle. "I don't know what I'd do without your aid."

"Neither do I. That's why I'm helping you."

When they arrived at her apartment, Brisco insisted on carrying most of the bags in one hand while she opened the apartment and let him inside. He stood in the foyer staring at the open layout. The old factory had been converted into apartments, so the ceilings were high and the windows tall and numerous, showing off a view of the mountains in the distance. Kelly took the bags from him and headed for the kitchen to the right. A bar with three stools separated it from the rest of the living and dining area. Brisco wandered in and inspected the view as well as the décor inside. She displayed photographs everywhere, and he was fascinated that people could actually smile in them, and that they were colored pictures, not black and white. At the end of the living area two doors framed a wall of built in bookshelves with a large area for a flatscreen television. The door on the right led to Kelly's room, and on the left an opening led to a short hall with a bathroom and second bedroom.

"That'll be yours, Brisco. Feel free to go lay down for awhile." Brisco nodded and moved toward the room. "Oh, and please ditch the boots when you lay down. Don't want my bedspread torn up by the spurs."

"Of course."

He entered the room. One window showed a view of the town, only it wasn't just a town anymore. Sunset Ridge, which he'd learned had been renamed Eastman at some point, was much larger and spread out. A large one-story building with an even larger parking lot around it covered former homestead lands to the north. The streets were wide, some of them divided with two lanes going in each direction. Brisco shook his head. It was all so fantastic, and if he weren't seeing it with his own eyes, he wouldn't believe it. When he returned home, he knew he could never tell anyone about this. They would think he'd gone crazy.

His boots came off easily and he let out a breath as he lay on the bed. It felt as if he were on a cloud, it was so soft. Carefully, he removed the splint and let it drop onto the night stand. He stretched out and burrowed his head into the squishy pillow. He had no idea what it was made of, but it certainly wasn't goose down. It form fitted to his head. _Ahhh, I could get used to this!_ Brisco closed his eyes, and breathed in. He smelled something. It reminded him of a field of wild jasmine, which in turn reminded him of Dixie.

It was probably a good thing he didn't contact her and let her know where he was going. Otherwise, she would be in Sunset Ridge right now, well, over one hundred years ago, anyway, waiting in vain for him to return. Unless he could find the men with the time machine, there was no way he was going home. _I wonder if she ever got over me and found someone else. As much as I hate that idea, it's practical. It makes no sense for her to pine for me. This never would have happened if I hadn't been so...so obsessed with the coming thing! I should have just let them go!_

As he drifted off to sleep, Dixie embedded herself into his thoughts, and he imagined that if he tried hard enough, he could feel her soft skin against his. Kelly was nice, but she would never replace Dixie. He resolved that he would do whatever it took to get back, and he would give Dixie what she wanted. He would stake his claim on her and make her his wife.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Kelly went in to wake Brisco for lunch, but he was sleeping so peacefully that she decided to leave him alone. When he was hungry, he would wake up. In the meantime, she called the stables where Comet was being kept.

"Comet is doing just great, Kelly. His leg is good as new, ready to ride in another day or so, I would say."

"Thank you, Dr. Wickwire. I'm sure Brisco will be happy to know that his friend is doing well. I know he's been concerned about him. If it's okay, we'd like to come out this afternoon and see him."

"Certainly, any time. If I'm not in the barn, I'll be in the house. Just knock on the screen."

"Thank you, Dr. I don't know when we'll be there, but I would guess it'll be later in the day." She hung up the phone and turned at the sound of a floorboard creaking. "Brisco! You didn't have to get up."

"No, I, uh, I'm feeling a lot better."

She studied him and noted he looked a little pale. In three strides she crossed the room and gently took hold of his wrist.

"What are you doing?"

"Just humor me, will you?" She rested the pads of her fingers into his pulse point and checked her watch. Then she nodded. "It's a little fast, but acceptable. I think you did too much today. Maybe we should wait to see Comet."

"No!" His eyes widened, then closed down as he carefully shook his head. "I've held off for too long as it is. You don't know how temperamental he can be sometimes if he feels like he's being slighted."

The corner of Kelly's mouth tipped up and she shook her head. "Sounds like you have an interesting horse. I can't wait to meet him."

"Well then, let's go!" He took a couple steps toward the door.

"Uh uh, not until you get a little lunch in your stomach. You're looking pale, your pulse is running a little fast, and you're showing signs of low blood sugar." She pressed her hands into his shoulder blades and pushed him toward the bar. "You need to eat."

"Alright, alright! No need to get uppity about it!" He kept his eye on her as she passed him and went into the kitchen. He sat on a stool and rested his casted arm on the bar surface.

Kelly set a plate before him. "I hope you like salami and turkey."

Brisco shrugged as he studied the sandwich. The bread was lighter and fluffier than what he was used to. His finger squashed it when he pressed into it. Between the slices he found a few lettuce leaves, two slices of tomato, and thin slices of meat. It all rested on a white gooey substance slathered on the bread.

"You want some mustard on that? I usually put some on with my mayo, but not everybody likes it like that." She stopped in the middle of making a sandwich for herself. "Is there something wrong with it?"

"No, it's just different than anything I've had before."

"They don't have sandwiches in the late 19th century?"

He smiled. "Sure, just that the bread is a lot denser, and the meat, not so thin."

"Ohhhh. Here, take that top slice off." She picked up a few more slices of meat and offered them to him.

"No, no, that's fine. I'm just saying...never mind." He picked up the sandwich and took a bite. He spoke around it. "See? Just fine."

Kelly shook her head and continued to make her sandwich. She put it on a plate and tossed a few slices of something orange on the side. "Want some sweet potato chips? I have a friend who makes them. Vic, my partner. You remember him?"

"Yes, I do."

"They're awesome. Try some." She held up a handful and dropped them onto his plate.

He picked one up and sampled it. "Very fancy. I've never seen a sweet potato like this before."

"Sometimes he makes the fries. Those are really good, and they hold up well, which is really great for us. I mean, sometimes we go for lunch somewhere and right in the middle, we get the tones., and we have to let our lunch sit until later, then the fries get really nasty."

"Tones?"

"Yeah, the call. Depending upon what kind of tone it is, we know what we're going for. Like if it's a fire rescue, or an car accident, single car, multiple car. There are codes for each one, and we learn them so we can be prepared to work when we get there." She paused. "Which reminds me. I'm scheduled for a shift tomorrow and the next two days after that. Twelve hours on, twelve off. So you're going to be on your own a little bit." She turned her seat to face him. "Think you can handle it?"

"Sure. Why not?" He smiled in an attempt to put her at ease.

"I'll give you a key so you can come and go as you please. Just be careful out there. This may be a small city, but there are parts you don't want to be in during the daytime, let alone the night." She watched him awkwardly handling the sandwich. "And you're a lefty, so with your good hand out of commission, you'll have to be extra careful."

"I can shoot with my right hand..." He stopped with the sandwich half way to his mouth and set it down. "My gun. Where's my gun?"

"The police probably confiscated it if you didn't have a permit to carry."

He looked at her as if she'd grown another head. "A...a permit?"

Kelly nodded. "In this day and age you can't just go walking around with a six shooter tied to your thigh like in the old west, Cowboy. Unless you're in Texas. They're funny about their guns down there. But here, in California, they're pretty tough on the laws. So good luck getting it back."

Brisco's shoulders slumped, and his face looked crestfallen. "That was my dad's gun. It's about all I have left of him." He turned to face Kelly with a determined look on his face. "I need that gun back."

"It may not be all that hopeless. Let me talk to some of my cop buddies and see what we need to do. I know you'll need a permit, and they require you to take a gun safety class, but other than that, I don't know." She lay her hand on his arm, and her heart ached for him. To some, it would be just a piece of hardware, but for Brisco, it was a memorial to his father. She didn't know why, but whatever the reason, she understood. "Tell you what. You finish up that sandwich for me, and we'll go visit Comet, and then we'll stop at the precinct and see what we can do about getting your gun back."

He blinked, moved beyond words at her generosity. "Thank you." For her, he finished his meal, even though he wasn't really hungry. Worry for his piece won out over his desire for food.

When they finished, Kelly took their plates and glasses and put them into a cabinet under the sink. Brisco watched her with growing bewilderment. She closed the door and looked up at him with a smile. "It's called a dishwasher. When it's full of dirty dishes, I put one of these little things in there..." She reached under the sink and brought out a small square object that was hard on one side and had some blue liquid on the other. "I put that inside, turn it on, and it does all the work for me. Later on, I just take out the cleaned and dried dishes and put them away."

"My, my, my. Very fancy."

She chuckled. "You say that a lot, don't you?"

"I have good reason to in this century, I guess."

"Are you ready to go see Comet? Let's get that sling back on you first, then we'll go."

She drove with the windows part way down so Brisco could get some fresh air. He still looked a little pale. She would keep an eye on him all day, and the minute she didn't like his color, if he turned clammy, or anything else happened that wasn't ordinary, she would pack him up and take him home again. She wouldn't be worth her salt as a medic if she let him wear down and wind up back in the hospital.

After parking the vehicle near the barn, they got out and looked around. Kelly sought out Dr. Wickwire, but Brisco found his quarry. He opened the back door, pulled a couple large apples out of the bag in the back seat, and approached the fence.

"Comet!" Brisco whistled.

Comet trotted around the back of the corral, but when he heard Brisco's voice and the sound of that shrill whistle, his head came up. If Kelly didn't know any better, she would have sworn the animal smiled at Brisco before trotting over to the fence.

"He's moving well," she noted aloud. "That night, when we arrived on the scene, he was wandering around, limping terribly. He got in the way. He had his head over yours, and when we got close, it was like he was protecting you."

"Really." Brisco gave Comet one of the apples, and the horse happily munched it. Pieces fell to the ground, and the horse greedily begged for the other one in his master's hand. With a smile, Brisco gave it to him and caressed the long white patch that ran from the horse's forehead to his snout. "Good boy, Comet. You know who loves you."

Comet finished the apple and bobbed his head, then dove for the pieces on the ground.

"He's quite the horse."

"Very smart," Brisco replied softly. "But don't let him hear it or he'll get full of himself."

Kelly laughed and threw her head back.

"Oh, you think I'm kidding, don't you. You haven't seen Comet in action."

"Actually, considering how he behaved when he knew you were injured, it shouldn't surprise me. I mean, Vic got bit by a dog once because we were trying to get to the owner, who was in the middle of cardiac arrest. Unfortunately, the dog wouldn't let up, and a police officer had to shoot him." She blinked back tears. "What a waste. And the patient wound up dying because we couldn't get in there and work on him in time."

"I'm sorry. Your job can't be easy."

"Sometimes it's not. We don't get to save everybody." She leaned closer, took his arm and held it close to her. "To tell you the truth, I didn't think we were going to cheat death that night we found you on that car."

"I'm glad you did."

"Me too." She reached up and caressed his scruffy face. She was starting to like the beard on him.

"Kelly! You made it along with your friend!"

The two turned to face the older man who sauntered from the house to the corral. Brisco stared at him. He looked like...

"Josiah, this is Brisco County Jr. Brisco, Dr. Josiah Wickwire. Best horse doc in this area."

"Dr...Wickwire?"

"Yes, it's a pleasure to meet you, my boy. And Comet has been a real pleasure to have around here. That horse is as smart as a whip...and he seems to have a way with the ladies." Wickwire grinned and jerked a thumb toward the back of the corral. In an adjoining paddock, two fillies stood near the fence as if they anticipated Comet's return to their side of the yard. "They'll hang out there for hours waiting for him. And he just shows off, jumps around a little. Never seen anything like it."

"Comet, are you behaving yourself?"

Comet nodded his head and snuffled.

"Now, I know we've talked about this before. It's not nice to lead the ladies on."

Kelly watched in fascination as Brisco had a conversation with his horse. At first glance, anyone would think he was crazy, but when she realized that Comet was actually responding to the things he said, she discovered that the man really did have a special animal, and a unique relationship with him.

"Dr. Wickwire," Brisco said the name and couldn't help but fixate on the man. He looked just like the Professor Wickwire from his past. He shook his head. There was no way it could be him! "Is Comet ready to ride?"

Comet stomped his front hoof and pawed at the ground as he nodded vigorously.

Wickwire shook his head. "Not today, Comet. We need to let Brisco have a day or two more to rest and let that arm heal. Don't we?"

The horse looked as if he were actually mulling over the idea. Then he nodded again, moved forward, and butted his snout against Brisco's right shoulder. Brisco reached up with his good hand and ran it alongside his long face, leaned his head into the other side, and patted him. Before he backed away, he gave the horse a quick kiss.

"Don't worry, Comet, I'll be back to see you with more apples." He turned away, and Kelly followed, but he stopped and turned back to the horse doctor. "Hey Doc, you wouldn't happen to be related to a Professor Albert Wickwire, would you?"

The man's beady blue eyes widened for a moment. Then he squinted as he looked deep in thought. "No, don't think so. Why?"

"No reason. You just remind me of him, that's all. Thanks for taking care of Comet. If there's anything I can do to pay you back..."

"Oh heaven's no, young man! Kelly told me about your situation..."

"She did?" He gave her a sidelong glance.

"Yes, about you being down on your luck and all. Well, I couldn't take anything from you. I've been there myself once in my life, and if it hadn't been for the kindness of strangers, I might not be here today." He glanced at Kelly and smiled, and she returned the smile.

"Well, we better get going, Brisco. We still have to stop at the precinct, remember?"

"Oh yeah. I do remember. Thanks Prof...I mean, Doc."

"You can come by any time, Brisco! Any time!"

"Thanks." He walked away but glanced back to watch Comet strutting and dancing around the corral. There was nothing wrong with that horse. He was playing for sympathy, and he won everybody's hearts in the process. He was no dummy, that was for sure.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

They entered the precinct and Kelly seemed to know exactly where to go, so Brisco followed her. He was starting to feel like a puppy traipsing after his mistress's heels, instead of being in control and leading, he was helpless and at someone else's mercy. He didn't like it. And he liked it a whole lot less that he didn't have his gun. But hopefully he would be able to change that situation very soon.

"Where's Borland?" Kelly asked a guy with closely cropped blonde hair sticking up in spikes and a couple day's growth of beard on his face. His green t-shirt was rumpled and his jeans faded. A shoulder holster with a badge attached was the only evidence that he was a cop. He played with his smartphone. Brisco was proud of himself for remembering that.

"Ah, he's over in the evidence locker, Kel. He'll be back in a minute."

"Great. I need to talk to him pronto about getting my friend his gun back. You see, it's a family heirloom, not just a weapon."

The blonde guy looked up and squinted at Brisco. "Wow, you get lost from the Wild West show or something?"

"Cal, knock it off!" She smacked him lightly upside the head, and he reacted with dramatic effect.

"Ow! Hey, police brutality!"

"You're such a dork, Cal. Why won't you grow up some day?"

"Kelly," Brisco took her arm and dragged her away from Cal where he could talk with her privately. "He's a lawman! You shouldn't be treating him with such disrespect."

"Oh, don't get your panties in a bunch, Brisco. That's my twin brother, Cal."

"Oh." He glanced at the detective, then to her, and he made one more pass. "Okay, I do see a family resemblance."

"We're fraternal twins, not identical," she said with a smile. "We're always giving each other grief. Mom's not around anymore, so...so it's fair game." She laughed. "We used to drive her crazy, so out of respect for her we stopped for awhile. But it's more fun to pick on each other."

He nodded. "I see."

"Do you have any siblings?"

"No, unfortunately, I was an only child. My mother died before..." He recalled the news that his father never told him until he was an adult, that his mother was pregnant with what they'd hoped was a girl when she was killed. "I would have had a sister...or a brother. That was a long time ago."

"I'm sorry. I suppose things happen on the frontier."

"Kelly! I hear you wanna talk to me."

"Denny! This is Brisco County Jr. Brisco, Lt. Denny Borland. He's the commander around here, and if you want your gun back, he's the man to talk to."

Brisco stared at the tall black man standing before him. This was getting too weird! First Kelly reminded him of Dixie, then Dr. Wickwire was the spit and image of the Wickwire he knew, and now...Denny Borland looked like Lord Bowler! Without the long curly hair, of course. This man wore his hair perfectly groomed close to his head. His mustache and goatee were very Bowler-like, though, and his features...

"Brisco, are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Maybe you better come over here and sit down, Mr. County." Borland took his arm and led him to a chair.

"I'm, uh, I'm fine Bowler." He sat. Knowing Bowler, if he didn't, he'd never hear the end of his nagging.

"Borland. The name is Borland." He glanced at Kelly.

She explained. "This was the fella who was hit by the texting driver."

"Must not be recovered from that head injury yet, huh?"

"I'm beginning to wonder about that myself," Kelly said as she squatted down to check on Brisco. His pulse was racing again and his skin felt clammy. "Okay, that's it. You're going home, and we'll come back tomorrow."

"No."

"Yes! I warned you that if you had too much, I would take you home."

"I'm fine, Dixie! Will you just relax?" Brisco pushed his way out of the chair and stood a little too quickly. The blood rushed out of his head and he pitched forward, right into Borland's arms.

"Dixie?" Borland looked at her.

"Long story. Just get something to prop up his feet, will you, please?" She shook her head as she got down on her knees next to Brisco. When he came to, he was going to be really embarrassed at all the attention. She looked up and glared at the small crowd of detectives, police, and even perps who stood gaping at him. "Do you mind? Just get back to work, nothing to see here!"

"You heard the lady, get back to work people!"

"Kel, is there anything you need," Cal asked as he crouched on the other side of Brisco.

"Just my pack. You know where it is in the car."

Cal nodded. He had a key to her car so he was able to retrieve it and bring it to her. By the time he returned, Borland had a couple of mug shot books under Brisco's boots, and her patient was beginning to make sounds of coming back to consciousness.

"Ohhhh, what happened?"

"You've spent too much time on your feet today, Mr. County," Kelly reprimanded him as she got out a BP cuff and stethoscope. She checked his blood pressure, despite his squirming against the tightening cuff. "Keep that up and I'll have to do it again because I won't get an accurate reading." He stilled, and she finished.

"Well, is he gonna live," Cal asked with a smirk.

"He'll be fine. Denny, can you please look into what Brisco needs to get his gun back? Like I told Cal, it's a family heirloom."

"I'll get the paperwork together, and maybe tomorrow if you're feeling better, Mr. County, you can come in and fill it out. Then you take a gun safety course, and find the original paperwork on the gun..."

"You're kidding, right?"

"No sir, Mr. County. We don't kid about weapons around here." Borland stood over him and pulled on his belt. His badge, which was clipped to it, glittered in the light.

"Well, the reason I ask is because it's been around in our family since the 1800s, and no one as far as I know ever had any ownership papers on it."

"I see. We can run a trace on the serial number and see what pops up in our computers. I'll have the results tomorrow."

With Cal's help, Kelly got Brisco to his feet. Brisco said, "Thanks."

"Denny, Brisco isn't going anywhere tomorrow if I have to tie him into bed. He needs his rest, and I'm going to make sure he gets it." She picked up her purse and the gear bag. "Come on. Cal, you got him?"

"Yeah. Get along Wild Brisco," Cal teased as he led him toward the door.

"Knock it off, Cal!"

Brisco had never seen a pair of siblings who could fight and yet be so entertaining. It made the walk to the car a lot easier to deal with, and he wondered if they knew that. Cal let him into the passenger side and closed the door. "Hey Kel, how are you going to handle him if you've got shift for the next three days?"

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it." She started the car. "Thanks for the help, bro. See you later!"

All the way back to the apartment, neither of them spoke. Brisco was still too mortified at his collapse in the middle of the squad room. This just wasn't like him. He was always so strong and capable, and everyone counted on him to continue to be that way. But he passed out like a frail female right in front of Lord Bowler! Or at least his double. The real Bowler would have laughed in that deep jerky way...no, that wasn't right.

Since he and Bowler had become friends, even before they developed a respect for each other, he once showed an extreme kindness to Brisco when he thought he was dying. He'd been shot in the gut by John Bly, and as he lay bleeding on the saloon floor, Bowler tried to comfort him as best he could by singing to him while the life slowly drained out of Brisco's body. The professor saved his life with the orb, but the steps to get back to life weren't exactly pleasant. And Bowler was ready to shoot the professor's head off for killing Brisco. But he wasn't dead. He recovered, and he would recover from this as well, even if it took awhile. He just hoped it would be soon, and he could get his gun, and then look for the men he followed into this crazy time.

A thunderstorm, that's all it was. Brisco sat up, his heart racing as the crash faded away and the rain pattered against the window and rolled down in streaks. He pulled back the curtain and looked out on the city. The jeweled lights wavered in the water patterns, illuminated by another bolt of lightning. Kelly was out there somewhere tonight, and he hoped that she didn't get a call to go out into this weather. But she told him it was like Murphy's Law, get a thunderstorm, and they always went out at least once. He turned and looked at the glowing clock on the night stand. It was blinking 12:00. He didn't know what that meant, as it had never done that before. When he retrieved his pocket watch from beside it and turned on the lamp, he saw that it was close to 3:30. The clock must have been defective. No matter, he had his trusty pocket watch. This technology was a little too temperamental for his tastes. The sooner he got back to his own time, the better.

He lay back on the bed and snuggled down into the warmth and softness. Okay, this was something he would miss. And the pajamas. He'd never slept in anything like them before. Most of the time, he slept in his clothes because he was out on the trail hunting down another outlaw. He wasn't even sure what he would wear if he was like a normal man sleeping in his own bed at home every night. Thoughts like that brought Dixie back to his mind. What did she wear to bed? He had no idea, because when she spent the night, it was usually after a fantastic session of lovemaking. Then it was skin on skin, and...he shook his head. It was dangerous to go there. But as he went back to sleep, Brisco's head filled with visions of him and Dixie together in a little home with two kids, a boy and a girl, playing in the yard with a dog. Nearby, Comet pranced in the corral with his own companion. And for once, he was happy staying in one place.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Kelly's shift started at 5pm, ended at 5am, and not long after she would be home. It was the last one for another couple of days. Brisco was glad, because the past two days she kept him confined like a prisoner to the apartment. She loaded him up with something that made him sleep through most of the first day. She claimed he had a fever, but he didn't believe her. He just seemed so tired all the time, he couldn't do much anyway even if he wanted. The second day, he had no idea how he spent it. He remembered voices. Kelly and Cal talking, arguing. He heard other voices he didn't know coming from the living room. During one lucid moment, he realized that it had to be the television. After awhile, a woman sang a soft smokey tune that soothed him.

"Brisco."

"Hmmm. Dixie."

"Brisco, that head injury must be getting worse, man. I'm not Dixie, I'm not Kelly. Come on, wake up. It's time for your meds."

"Huh?" He opened his eyes and saw Cal weaving about over his bedside.

"Crap, you're in bad shape. If you die, my sister's gonna kill me." Cal helped him sit up. "You need to take this stuff. And I'm gonna get you some Tylenol. She said I could give you some of that if your fever rose."

"What's...what's wrong with me?" This weakness and incapacity was getting very old. He was frustrated by his inability to handle the simplest things. He couldn't even shave himself, which was something he'd hoped to do alone when Kelly bought him the toiletries. She wound up doing it for him. Not only was it humiliating, but the sheer sensuousness of the act sent him into an emotional tailspin. It seemed that he hadn't been the same since, but he could hardly blame it on Kelly.

"Kel says you've probably got a secondary infection. It happens sometimes, people pick up germs while they're in the hospital. That's why she's trying to keep you at home."

"Ah." A cold cloth touched his forehead. "Thanks, Cal."

"You're welcome, Brisco. Can you try to sit up and take this stuff? Kel will be home in a few hours, and I've got to get back to work."

Brisco accepted the pills and washed them down with water. "What do you do?" He leaned up against the headboard, and Cal propped him up with pillows.

Cal smiled at him sympathetically. "I'm a detective. Look, I know that day that Kel brought you in I was acting kind of like a goofball, but...well, I was trying to deal with something. Something tragic. And no, I don't wanna talk about it." He shook his head. "I'm over it. The point is, yeah, I like to kid around, but I do take my job very seriously."

"I didn't doubt it. I just figured that you and Kelly had a close relationship, and you felt comfortable teasing each other." He wished he'd had that opportunity with a sister.

"We do." Cal's smile grew. "When she asked if I'd come over and babysit while she was gone, I didn't hesitate. She, uh...told me that you're from the past, and that you came here through some kind of time machine made out of a truck?"

"That's correct. I know it sounds fantastic, but it's true."

"Can you give me a description of the truck? Seriously, if someone out there is messing around with time, well, who knows what could happen. I mean, there's been speculation in fiction and the movies and stuff about what might happen, but no one really knows."

Brisco told him everything in detail, from his first encounter with Brackett and his friends, to the vacuum that sucked him and Comet up and set them down violently into the 21st century. All the while, Cal took notes.

"I'll see what I can find out about this. Now, why don't you try to get some rest, and I'm going to get some work done."

"I really don't want to sleep anymore."

"Okay, how about I plant you on the couch, put the remote in your hand, and a nice cold drink on the coffee table, and you can channel surf all afternoon?"

"Channel surf?"

"Oh yeah. Over two hundred channels of pure junk. It'll be eye-opening, if nothing else."

"There's a lot in this world that is 'eye-opening'," Brisco answered as he accepted Cal's help getting out of bed. He settled onto the couch, and Cal put his feet up with a pillow tucked under them on the coffee table, and as promised gave him the remote. "Do you happen to have the newspaper?"

"Yeah. It's right here." He dropped it into Brisco's lap and went to the kitchen.

Brisco scanned the headlines and again marveled at the difference between the news in his time versus now. So many more wars and conflicts. Politicians back-stabbing, well, that was nothing new, but it seemed to be on a much higher level. Murders reported in small print on the back pages, like they were an everyday occurrence and not worth the ink. The country seemed to be incohesive, which surprised him. Given all the technology for communication, he would have thought that people would be closer, not farther apart. The more he read, the more he saw on the television, the more he missed home. He wanted to go there so badly, it hurt deep in his gut. As soon as he was well he would try to find his way back.

Cal set a glass of iced tea down near Brisco's feet and took the opposite side of the couch. He picked up a slim book-like object that by now Brisco knew was called a laptop computer. Cal typed feverishly at the keyboard, stopped for awhile and read the screen, and then typed some more. When he realized that Brisco was studying him, he glanced up and smiled. "Just getting some reports done. And doing some web surfing."

"Web surfing?" He had visions of Cal sliding across silken strands of a giant spider web.

"Yeah, looking up things on the internet." His smile turned into a grin. "Wanna see what I found on you?"

"Me?"

"Yeah." Cal scooted closer and turned the screen. "I just pulled up this."

Brisco gaped at the photograph. It was him, standing in a street of a small town. He wore the badge on his lapel, his gun was safely in its holster, and he rested his weight on one hip, his hands lightly grasping the belt slung across his hips, while he gave the camera an intense look. As he studied the photograph, he tried to recall when it was taken, but he couldn't remember.

"It says this photo was from 1895. Wow, that's too weird."

"From 1895? That means I'll make it back!"

"If this little side trip in time didn't mess up what was supposed to be." He scrolled down the article. "This is a biography of your life. Pretty impressive. You defeated an entire gang of outlaws one by one, cleaned up towns all over the west, and eventually...here it is...you eventually settled down in mid to late 1893 in Sunset Ridge. You married Miss Dixie Cousins, a traveling saloon entertainer. She retired after your marriage and..." Cal shook his head. "I probably shouldn't be revealing all this."

"No, come on, Cal. What happened...happens...next?" Brisco's eyes were wide with curiosity. He grabbed at the edge of the screen. "Please, I want to know what I'm missing!"

Cal let out a long sigh. "Okay. You married Dixie and had three children together."

"Three?" His smile brightened up his whole face. "Well, how about that!"

"Two of them were twins." Cal scanned the page and found a picture of Brisco with Dixie. "Oh my god. She looks like Kelly!"

"And now you understand how hard it's been for me to stay here with her."

"Oh wow, I think you should tell her, Brisc."

Brisco winced at the shortening of his name. "Please, just keep calling me Brisco. A friend called me Brisc once. Just once."

"Oh." Cal nodded knowingly. "Okay, so how about I call you BC?"

Brisco thought about that. "Well, it's not really any shorter than Brisco."

"True, but it sounds way cooler. Sorry, man. Not that Brisco is really a bad name, but...ah, never mind." Cal set down the computer and stood. "I better go get myself something to drink before I insert my foot up to my knee!"

When he returned, he found Brisco had taken possession of his computer and figured out the back button. He clicked on another link and found more information on himself. "What is a PDF?"

"It's a document that's been scanned so it can be read online. Go ahead, click on it."

Brisco did so and found himself looking at the cover of a dime novel. He chuckled. "Oh, do I remember those. Some fella wrote a whole series of these things about me and sold them in the East. Not that any of it had a grain of truth." He shook his head. "And people believed it."

"They must have been like the National Enquirer of our day."

Brisco had no idea what he was talking about. "Say...is there a university around here somewhere?"

"Actually, there is. Why do you ask?"

'Those fellas with the time machine. One of them mentioned something about some people at the university not believing them." He snapped his fingers. "I wish I could remember exactly what he said."

"It's a small school, really. More like a satellite campus for the state system, they specialize in geology, seismology, and some other science stuff."

"Perhaps someone there knows something about time travel?"

"If so, then your boys in the truck are locals." He smirked. "I've got one of our aides looking into that truck description. If we had a plate number, that would make things easier. License plate, one of those rectangular things on the back of each car."

"Ah, the combination of letters and numbers. A very interesting concept for keeping track of vehicles. I can imagine without them it might be difficult to locate a specific car. So, if you don't have a plate, how else can you locate a vehicle?'

"Pretty much by sheer luck, Brisco. But in this case, you had a name - Brackett. Don't know if that's a first or last name, but we're running it both ways. The computer will probably give us a hit of some kind."

"These computers, they sure do a lot of work for you, don't they?"

Cal nodded. "You would not believe how many man hours are saved through these machines!"

"I suppose, when time seems to pass so much more quickly here, time is of the essence." Brisco sighed and leaned his head back. "It's no wonder everything is so frantic, and people seem to be more stressed." He brought his head back up and looked at Cal. "I wish you and Kelly could see what it's like. It really is a better way to live."

"I think it's all in perspective, my friend. We would probably go nuts." He studied Brisco with a serious expression. "You're a lawman. How about we work on this together? Figure out who these guys are and track them down."

"I'll need my gun."

"Don't worry, I'll get it back for you. I might have to take you to a shooting range and show Borland you know how to handle a gun, but the rest, it'll be a piece of cake."

"I appreciate it, Cal. Thank you."

"No problem, Brisco. It's just been pretty awesome talking to a guy who spent time in the old west."

The computer and television were forgotten as they spent the next few hours talking about Brisco's adventures and his methods for taking down the Bly gang. Now and then Cal turned to the internet to look for information on the gang and was amazed when everything Brisco told him was there in print for him to see. Not that he really doubted Brisco. It just made it more concrete. But after awhile, he could see that Brisco was tiring.

"Hey, I should let you rest. Put your feet up on the couch here, and I'l go over to the table. No, don't protest. I don't want to get into trouble with my sister."

"Understandable." Brisco stretched out on the couch and was soon asleep sitting with his back against the armrest, and pillows behind him.

Cal made himself a sandwich and parked on one of the stools. Then he went to work and dug into more of Brisco's past, the university, and anyone who might know anything about three men who took a brief trip to the past and brought back an unlikely souvenir.

Kelly came home and found Cal finishing off a pint of chocolate cherry ice cream and typing at his computer. "You look like you accomplished something" She glanced over at the couch and smiled, happy to see Brisco sleeping with a peaceful expression on his face. "Did you talk his ear off?"

"No, more like he did mine. Kel, the things he knows from the past, it was fascinating! But...he's awfully homesick. I mean, I've gotta wonder if the stress of being here is hampering his healing." He saw the look on his sister's face. She was struggling with the same thoughts, but he also detected something else. "No, Kel. Don't go there. You can't fall in love with this guy!"

"Why not? If he stays here, he's gonna need someone..."

"But he's not! He's going back, and I'm going to do what I can to help him!"

Kelly gaped at him and her hand raised as if she wanted to slap him, but not in a playful manner. "You're crazy! He can't go back yet, at least not until that cast comes off!"

"How much longer for that?"

"Four weeks, maybe less."

"Good. That'll give me enough time to track down this Brackett and his friends." A popup indicated he had an e-mail. "Hey, that's probably the answer I was looking for from Debbie." He turned back to the computer and read the message. "Yes," he whispered. Then he said, "Trust me, sis, you don't want to fall for him. He's got a girl back home. And according to history, they get married and have kids."

"So? History can change."

"Do you really want to mess with time? What if one thing you do, like getting romantically involved with Brisco, keeping him here, causes him to not marry Dixie, not have three kids, and one of those kids misses out on saving an important person's life? A whole cataclysmic chain of events could follow, altering your present, and maybe Brisco won't even be here by the time the dust settles. Maybe he dies in that accident because of something..."

"Shut up! Shut up, Cal!" She turned and hurried to her room and slammed the door on him. She knew he was right, but she couldn't escape the call of her heart.

Brisco heard every word. He felt bad about eavesdropping, but when it concerned him and Kelly's feelings, he considered it justified. Hopefully it was just fatigue that got her so riled up, but deep down he knew the odds of that were pretty slim. No, he needed to get out of this time immediately, or as soon as was feasible. Only Cal could help him do that.

Wanting and getting were two entirely different things. Kelly was right; Brisco needed to heal before he could go back to his own time. So until the cast could come off, he had a lot of time on his hands, and there was only so much television he could endure. He started spending more time with Cal, hoping that the two of them could find the mystery men with the time machine.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

"Morning, Brisco."

"Morning, Debbie."

The young police aide gave him an appreciative smile as she passed Cal's desk and looked down at him. Brisco spent so much time at the station, Borland considered him an unofficial member of the squad. His insight into the past gave Cal a new perspective on some of his cases and helped to crack them wide open. He couldn't go out with him to help in the arrests, but he at least helped to save him a lot of footwork.

Her desk was one over from Cal's, and she faced Brisco. Even though Debbie's job was to supply the detectives with information, she gladly showed the handsome lawman how to use a computer and the internet. One handed typing wasn't easy, but considering he'd never typed before, he quickly adapted. Someone set up an old typewriter stand on wheels near his chair so Cal could keep his desk space for the explosion of paperwork and his collection of action figures and toys that were there strictly for creative stimulation, so he said. Brisco sat in profile, and Debbie thought it was the nicest profile she'd ever seen. Too bad he was from another time and that he was planning to go back.

Everyone who worked the squad room knew about Brisco and his situation. It was hard not to when they all worked together closely and shared their personal lives. At first no one believed it, but there were too many things about Brisco that didn't add up for a modern man. When Cal showed them historical proof, all speculation stopped, and they accepted him as one of their own.

Cal growled as he walked past with a piece of paper in his hands. Brisco glanced up and saw that it was a police report. He'd gotten quite used to them in the past few weeks.

"Whatcha got there, Cal?"

"Another report of a gunslinger robbing a convenience store. On the surface it looks like any other robbery, but these guys come in with bandanas on, six shooters, and they're tearing up the places before they leave."

"Cal..."

"Yeah, Deb." Cal dropped into his chair heavily. He and Brisco had spent the night staking out a store that they thought would get hit, but nothing happened, if you didn't count a case of terminal finger staining from eating a whole bag of cheese balls. He held his hands up toward his face. Scrubbing with a lot of soap got most of it off.

"I was able to get a copy of the tapes from that last robbery, the one on Calhoun. I burned it onto a disc for you." She reached over her desk, gave Brisco a wide smile, and asked, "Brisco, would you be a sweetheart and give that to Cal, please?" The way she leaned over, he could see her cleavage and smell her perfume.

Brisco knew what she was up to, but he remained a gentleman and carefully kept his focus on her face. He nodded, smiled at her, and took the disc, just barely making contact with her fingers. It was enough to make her shiver with delight. He ignored it, and passed the disc to Cal.

"Thanks, Deb." Cal put the disc into the computer and after a few clicks got it running. "Okay, BC, let's see what we've got."

Brisco came around the desk and watched over Cal's shoulder. Onscreen was a bird's eye view of the store from behind the cash register. Three men burst into the store with bandanas over their faces. They split up, and one went out of camera range but soon returned with a female clerk. She looked terrified with her hands up in the air as the robber pushed her down the aisle to the register. Her hands fumbled over it while she tried to get it open. One of them hopped over the counter, pressed himself up against her, and figured out the drawer himself. The other two scooped the cash into a bag, while the one seemed to be chatting up the clerk. She shook her head, a look of pure terror on her face. Then the robber did something that neither of them would have expected. He pulled down his bandana and kissed the girl.

She pushed him away and screamed, although there was no sound on the recording, they knew it had to be loud. He gave it one more shot, but she got in a good kick to his shin, and he backed off. For a moment, his face turned toward the camera before he replaced the bandana and he and his cohorts ran out of the store.

"Bill..."

"Wait a second, BC. You know that guy?" Cal froze the picture and pointed at the tall man with the cowboy hat off-kilter after the woman's rebuff.

"That's Bill Swill. I'd know him anywhere. And this guy here, with the long hair, that's Will. And Phil, the squirrelly little guy. Also known as the Swill Brothers. They're a good case for why inbreeding is a bad idea."

"Oh my god. Just as we thought, you're not the only one who's out of time."

A sensation like a cold, hard fist struck Brisco in the gut. "What if these men with the time machine are bringing back outlaws from the past?"  
>"Now why would they bother? These guys have got to be amateurs compared to the criminals we've got today."<p>

"I don't know." Brisco shook his head. He carefully stood, favoring his ribs that were still tender. But they were healing, as was the rest of him. He couldn't wait to be well enough to go home, but there were two factors preventing it: apprehending whoever had been taken from the past, and not having the means to return. "I just hope..." He shook that thought out of his head.

"Hope what?" Cal stood beside Brisco and eyed him warily.

Brisco broke out of a thoughtful pose. "No, that could never happen. Forget I mentioned it."

"Mentioned what? BC, if you know about some really notorious gangbanger who should never be let out of the past, you better tell me now."

He let out a deep sigh. "His name is John Bly."

"Bly?" Cal's brows furrowed. "But you defeated him, didn't you? He was killed, right?"

"Yes. But as we've come to discover, time is fluid. What if these time travelers went back farther, to when Bly was still alive, and brought him here?" Brisco turned to his friend with fear in his eyes. "Cal, if Bly comes here, I truly dread what might happen. If he has access to an orb..."

"An orb? Oh, this is getting weirder by the minute!" Brisco had told him about the orbs and how mysterious they were, and dangerous. "Yeah, if they caught him early enough, he could be a real threat with that thing."

"Now I understand why the woman from the future was so worried about the orbs getting into the wrong hands. I never fully fathomed the implications of time travel until now."

"Me neither. Holy moley," Cal whispered.

Brisco glanced at him. He noticed that Cal was starting to pick up some of his words and phrases from the past. It amused him. But there was no time for that. Cal stopped the disc and ejected it from the computer. "Okay, let's take this one step at a time. We worry about apprehending the Swills and interrogate them, see if they know who else has been imported here. Maybe they'll even give up the reason why."

Kelly entered the squad room and made a beeline for Cal's desk. She looked peeved. "Cal, you were supposed to bring Brisco home a half hour ago. He has an appointment at the hospital, remember?"

"Oh, yeah, we, uh, well, we kind of forgot about that," Brisco said as he looked into her eyes. "Sorry." He still had trouble sometimes with her resemblance to Dixie, but at least she'd cooled her romantic notions of late. She took more shifts in order to avoid him, and working with Cal helped to keep their time together rare. Still, he felt sorry for her. Living in the same apartment with a man she was in love with who didn't share the same feelings couldn't be easy.

"Well, we better get going. Maybe if you're lucky they can take that cast off and you can be on your way home, back in time."

"We still haven't found the time machine, Kel, so Brisco ain't going anywhere until we get this wrapped up. I'm thinking if we find the Swills and whoever else is here that shouldn't be, they'll lead us right to the ones who brought them here." Cal smiled. "Especially if we offer them immunity."

"Immunity? Are you crazy?" Brisco's eyes widened.

"Yeah, come on, BC, I'll take you to that appointment and we'll talk about it on the way." He grabbed Brisco's elbow and steered him toward the door. "See ya later, Kel."

"Cal! Brisco!" She stood with hands on hips, glaring at them, and sighed heavily.

Brisco turned out of Cal's direction, spun and picked his hat off the coat tree between Cal and Debbie's desks, and turned back to leave. He caught Kelly's eye. Not sure what to say to her, he said nothing, because she knew that her brother was like Brisco. When he was hot on a trail, there was no stopping him. He simply nodded and hurried to catch up to Cal.

"I've got some good news for you, Brisco. Your arm has healed well enough that we can remove the cast. You'll have to wear a brace for a couple more weeks, but at least now you'll be able to function a little better." The doctor turned away to prepare some tools. "You must have been doing a lot of the exercises we recommended."

"Oh yes, Sir. They became second nature, I'd say. And I also think they've made my gun hand stronger." He smiled. "So I guess it wasn't all bad to have this happen."

"You're one lucky man, Brisco. I remember what you looked like when they brought you in here. You were a mess." He fired up a small saw, and within a few minutes had him free of the hot uncomfortable cast. "How's that feel?"

Brisco lifted his arm up off the table and flexed the muscles, staring at the pale skin as he turned his wrist. "It still hurts a little."

"Oh, it will for awhile. You might have some pain up to a year afterwards, but...let me take a look at it." The doctor probed with his fingers, pressing into Brisco's flesh to reach the bone. "Yeah, it's healed nicely. You shouldn't have any problems with it, but if you do, call and make an appointment."

"Thanks, Doc. I appreciate it."

"Take care, Brisco. And don't go running into any more cars, okay? It's a really bad way to try to meet women." The doctor laughed, but Brisco didn't think it was so funny. He'd met Kelly that way, and look what happened. "Sorry."

"No problem." Brisco rolled his sleeve down, a task he hadn't been able to do for weeks. He smiled a little as he buttoned the cuff, shook out the wrinkles, and picked up his jacket and hat from the chair...with his left hand. He dropped the jacket, and the hat followed. "What the..."

"Patience, Brisco. Your hand needs time to get back up to strength." He eyed him. "You said that was your gun hand. I suggest you take some time at the shooting range. Firing a gun will definitely bring the muscles back to normal."

"Thanks! I'll do that."

The second time, Brisco grabbed his jacket, transferred it to his right arm, and then he plucked up the hat, swung it around, and set it perfectly on his head. He nodded to the doctor and left the exam room. Cal was at the front desk chatting up the receptionist. Brisco grabbed his sleeve, pleased to see that his grip was good.

"Come on, Cal. Back to work!"

"Hey, call me!" He tossed his business card onto the desk and hurried out behind Brisco, but not without giving her a wink and a cocked grin.

She grinned back and shook her head as she carefully tucked the card into her pocket.

Borland was waiting when they returned. "Brisco, Cal...I see you got something accomplished."

"Yes, Sir." Brisco held up his arm. "One step closer to being back to myself. By the way, the doctor said I should go to a shooting range to help regain the strength in my hand." He looked up at Borland slyly. "It sure would help if I could get my gun back."

Borland had been holding off on this day for awhile. He still didn't completely buy Brisco's time traveling story, despite the growing evidence. But he'd come to the conclusion that resistance was useless. "Ohhh, alright. You'll have your firearm back today. But then you and I are going to the range, Mr. County. I want to see you use that gun, see if you're any good."

"You've got a deal." Brisco smiled. "Now, Sir, we've got a case to work on, so..."

"Go on, you two. We got a lead on the time machine. A witness came in this morning and reported she saw something weird out in the outskirts of town last night." He handed Brisco a sheet of paper. "That's her statement."

Brisco scanned the report. "Thanks. We'll check this out."

"Brisco."

"Yes, Sir?" It took some getting used to treating Borland as a superior, but he adapted. Fortunately, not all the man's mannerisms reminded him of Bowler.

Borland sighed. "I...I really appreciate all you're doing. If you didn't have to go back...have you ever considered staying?"

"Not at all, Sir. I've had my brush with the coming thing, much more than I bargained for, and I am ready to go back to the future that's waiting for me there."

"As long as all this time travel business hasn't altered things."

"We keep hoping that it hasn't. But I won't know for sure until I get back, will I?"

The captain shook his head as Brisco went back to Cal's desk. Despite all his old fashioned ways, Borland would miss Brisco when he was gone. He had a calm demeanor about him, a real professional attitude missing in some of his people, and a respect for everyone who came in through the doors, whether they were victims or criminals. The man understood that even bag guys were human, not garbage, despite the way they acted.

He shook his head again. He was wool-gathering while he had work to do. First order of business was to get Brisco's gun out of lockdown. In the afternoon, he had a date at the shooting range, and he was taking Brisco along. He was eager to see how a man from the past shot a six-shooter, if he had any tricks like the cowboys on the old western shows. He loved those shows as a kid. Having a real life hero walk into his station and take his place as if he belonged there made Borland come dangerously close to giddy sometimes. But he had to control himself this afternoon. It wouldn't look good for the boss to get starry-eyed.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

"Let's go interview this woman who saw the time machine," Cal said as he quickly scanned the report Brisco gave him. He took a sip out of a coffee cup on his desk, made a face, and added, "We're stopping at a coffee shop on the way."

Brisco couldn't understand peoples' fascination with coffee shops. How could a whole business rise up from selling plain old coffee? But then he tried some fancy thing Cal ordered for him, and he could see the attraction. He still liked his black, though, when it came down to it. They went through the drive thru, which it seemed was a regular occurrence for Cal, if the back seat and floorboard was any indication. The Jeep SUV smelled like coffee, cream and sugar from old styrofoam cups, with a few breakfast sandwiches thrown in. Good thing Cal liked to drive with the windows open, although it was a little cool for that today. The sun shone, making it appear warmer than it was.

Brisco missed the fresh air experience when he rode Comet. Comet. How he longed to ride him! He'd been to the stables quite a bit to see his friend, and Kelly rode him when the horse begged for a good ride. But Brisco could see that Comet was just being nice by accepting Kelly's attention. Her horsemanship skills were more than adequate. Comet just wanted Brisco more.

"Cal, if we have time today, I'd like to go to the stable and ride Comet."

"Oh yeah, no problem. I bet he'll be really glad to have you back in the saddle." Cal said with a smile and then burst into a really bad rendition of the old cowboy song. He glanced at Brisco cringing, grinned sheepishly, and stopped singing. "Sorry, couldn't help myself there."

"It needs work, I think."

"Yeah." Cal turned in to the driveway of the house where their witness lived. It was on the north end of town, just a half mile from the base of the mountains. The white ranch house with black shutters and trim looked like a dozen others on the street.

_How unoriginal._ Brisco got out and followed Cal up to the door.

Cal knocked and an older woman with silver hair cut short and framing her face answered the door.

"Ma'am, are you Elizabeth McCormick?"

"Yes, I am."

He showed her his badge. "I'm Detective Cal Reynolds, Eastman PD. This is my associate, Brisco County Jr. We'd like to ask you some questions about what you saw last night."

"Oh, certainly! Come in, gentlemen! I was just finishing up my baking in the kitchen. Why don't you come in, have some coffee, and some fresh baked cookies?"

"Sounds good, ma'am. Thank you."

Cal and Brisco followed her through the living room and into the kitchen. It smelled warm, inviting, and chocolatey. After pouring them a cup of coffee each, she set a plate of big chocolate chip cookies in the center of the round table and joined them with her own cup. A sugar bowl and small pitcher of creamer sat next to the plate with some spoons. After the sugar and creamer laden brew Brisco had in the Jeep, he ignored the extras and the cookies. Cal had no qualms about loading up on the creamer and grabbed a cookie.

"Oh, Brisco, these are great. You really owe it to yourself to have one."

"They're chocolate chip." Elizabeth smiled. "My favorite. And the grandkids seem to like them okay too." Her smile turned into a grin.

"Come on, BC. Go for it."

Brisco shrugged. He'd never had a chocolate chip cookie, whatever it was. First bite practically melted in his mouth, and he knew that he would have to be careful. It would be easy to become addicted to them, and then when he returned to his time, he would have no way of getting them again. He shook his head. No time for such trivialities! They had work to do.

"Mrs. McCormick," Brisco began, treading lightly. He'd already learned that just because a woman had grandkids, it didn't necessarily mean she was still married. In his time, that meant widow. In these times, she could have been divorced for all he knew. However, when he glanced around the kitchen, the small collection of hats on a rack on the wall near the back door were a dead giveaway that there was a Mr. McCormick involved somewhere. That, and the old worn ring on her finger paired with a newer diamond ring. "Could you tell us what you saw last night?"

"Well, I gave the officers a report."

"We saw it. What Brisco is asking is, do you recall what the men looked like, the ones riding in the back, maybe?"

"There were several of them, and they were all dressed like cowboys, which surprised me. Usually the ruffians who tear around in their tricked up trucks around here tend to have that grunge look about them. You know, ball caps, flannel shirts, jeans. These fellows were wearing hats like yours, Mr. County, and their clothes were dark, but I didn't see any flannel among them." She paused, thinking. "There was one man who was dressed all in black, but he had like...I don't know...studs, or maybe silver like decorations all over his clothes."

"Anything else remarkable about them?" Cal grabbed another cookie, while Brisco took his time with his one.

"Um, this man with the fancy doodads, he had long dark hair, a mustache, and a cackling kind of laugh. On one of their passes behind the houses, he either jumped off or fell from the back of the truck, and he ran up to the house. He just stood there looking at it like he'd never seen anything like it before. He seemed fascinated by the sliding glass door." She pressed her arms closer and shuddered. "He was a creepy looking man. Big, wild eyes."

"Did anyone say anything," Brisco asked.

"One of the men in the truck yelled at this one to get back on the wagon...he called him Pete."

Brisco let out a loud breath and hung his head.

"You know this guy, BC?"

"With the description you gave, Mrs. McCormick, I was afraid it might be Pete. Pete Hutter, Cal. He's not the brightest of the bunch, but he makes up for it in doing more than his share of mayhem."

"Nice. So which way did they go?"

"They headed toward town. They tore through the back lots and jumped the curb down the way, almost hit a car." She rested her chin on her fist. "I wish I could give you more information."

"We at least know who one of them is," Brisco said as he stood. "That's a start. Thank you, ma'am."

Cal gave her his business card. "If you think of anything else, just give me a call. Any time. If they come back, you call. Okay?"

"Thank you. I will." She turned to the refrigerator and stuck the card on it before ushering them to the door. "Would you boys like to take some cookies with you?"

"Oh, I'd love to, but I think I ate more than enough. Thanks!" Cal patted his stomach and grinned, and he and Brisco left the house.

"I say we should go check out the trail they left behind, at least up to the street," Brisco suggested as they got into Cal's Jeep.

"Sure. We'll drive down to where they came out and check it from there. Not sure what we'll find, but we'll see."

Other than some tire tracks, Cal was right. The time machine left no evidence behind. Cal's phone rang, and he answered it. "Yello. Ah, yes, Sir, we're heading back after some lunch. Uh huh. Two o'clock, at Dusty's Range. Okay, I'll make sure he's there, Sir. No, not much, although BC recognized one of the guys. If the lady's description is good, it's some dude named Pete Hutter. Alright, sounds good, Sir. See you at the range!"

"Well?"

"You have a meeting with Borland at Dusty's Range at two, so we better hurry if we want to get some lunch."

Brisco wasn't sure how Cal stayed so fit eating the way he did. Coffee loaded with sugar, cream, and flavorings. Hamburgers, french fries, pizza, cookies...the list was endless. Brisco tried his way, but it made him feel listless, and he couldn't last a week. Now, he insisted they eat somewhere fast, but with healthy alternatives, and that they take the time to go inside. A grilled chicken sandwich with apple wedges was what his lunch consisted of, while Cal went for the bacon burger.

"You know, with all the stuff you eat and the kind of lifestyle you lead, you'll be lucky if you live to 50." Brisco cocked a grin. "Maybe you should come back with me. At least in my time you'd get the exercise to burn off all that garbage."

"Hey, I work out plenty. You just don't see it because I do it at night. You gotta pay to play, BC. Although, I gotta say, for a guy who doesn't work out, you keep in good shape."

"Lifestyle. I spend a lot of time in the saddle or walking, tracking suspects, literally. It requires a lot of energy. Here, with cars for transportation, I don't need to load up."

"Smart guy." Cal grinned. He glanced at his watch. "We've got about ten minutes to get to Dusty's. You ready to go?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

They cleaned up the remnants of their lunch, tossed them into the garbage on the way out, and hurried to the vehicle. Borland didn't take kindly to people being late, so Cal gave it a little more gas to get there, despite Brisco giving him the eye for speeding.

They arrived with a few minutes to spare. As they looked for Borland, Brisco couldn't help but feel anticipation for being reunited with his father's gun. It always held a special place in his heart. The hand carved handle always caught his eye and made him covet the gun when he was younger. When he found it among his father's things after his death, he was thrilled. Now Borland had it, and he couldn't wait to get it back into his hand.

"You're on time. Good for you." Borland stood in a stall waiting for them. He picked up the revolver sitting on a waist high shelf and handed it to Brisco handle side out, barrel down. "Here you go, like I promised. That's a really fine piece."

"Thank you. It was my father's. A man he did a great favor for carved the handle. There isn't another like it anywhere."

"I figured as much." Borland studied the gun and watched as Brisco held it in his hand, testing the weight. "It's not loaded."

"Oh, I know." He let it bounce a little in his hand, his finger in the trigger guard. He tried twirling it, but when he grabbed the handle again, it slipped slightly. He looked up at Borland with an apologetic look. "Looks like my hand still needs some work."

"Well, that's kind of what you're here for, isn't it?" Borland looked down at him with a challenge in his eyes.

"I thought you were expecting a show from me, Sir, but I'm afraid I won't be able to give you much today. Not with this hand. But I'll do my best."

Brisco stepped up to the shelf, picked up six bullets, and loaded the gun. He snapped the cylinder back into place, spun it, tried twirling the gun again, and had better success. Then he ran it sideways from shoulder to elbow, testing the spin of the cylinder. Satisfied, he tossed the gun into his right hand, then back to the left, debating whether he really wanted to shoot with his weaker hand and make himself look like a fool. Borland wanted to know he could shoot, so he switched to his right.

"Hang on a second. Put these on." He gave Brisco a set of noise-canceling headphones and safety glasses.

"You're serious?"

"You're at the range, Brisco. Gotta follow the rules."

Brisco sighed in resignation, flipped his hat off so the tether let it fall to his back, and complied with the rules. Then he picked up his gun, aimed at the man-shaped target at the back wall, and fired off six rounds in quick succession. All but one hit the center of the target's chest. The last one hit him in the forehead, right between the eyes.

"Damn. Not bad, Brisco. But I thought maybe you could shoot faster than that. I mean, against a semi-automatic, you wouldn't stand a chance."

Brisco emptied out the cartridges into a galvanized bucket on the floor and reloaded without a word. Not trusting his left hand to work the hammer quick enough, he decided to try shooting with it. He gripped the gun with his left hand and positioned his right hand over the hammer. Without warning, he fired again, a lot faster, but his hand would have screamed in pain if it had a voice. When he finished, he shook out the cramping and spread his hand on the shelf.

"You okay?" Borland looked at him with concern.

Brisco nodded. Then they looked at the target and discovered that his shots created a large hole in the center. This time, he went right for the chest and avoided the head.

"Damn, you are good!" He pressed a button and the target moved on a track system to where they stood. Borland replaced it with a new one and gave Brisco the one he shot up. "Hey, you mind autographing that one for me? That is, if you don't want to keep it for yourself."

"No, I hadn't thought about it." Brisco laughed. "You want my autograph, huh?"

"Sure." He pressed another button and the target retreated. Then he took his turn with his own sidearm, a semi-automatic Glock.

Brisco watched in amazement as he emptied the entire clip in slightly more time than it took him to fire his six shots. The damage was about the same, although Borland had a few more wild shots.

"Hey, do you mind letting me try that thing?"

"If I can try your gun." Borland grinned.

"You've got yourself a deal." Brisco responded with a smile, and he eagerly traded with Borland.

The newer gun was fast and efficient, but it didn't have the same balance or sleekness in his hand. He tried it with both hands and had less accuracy than with his own gun. He noted that Borland did better with the Glock, so he didn't feel so bad.

"I suppose you gotta work with what you're comfortable with, eh, Brisco?" Borland said as they left the range. "Either way, I know I'd never wanna be in a gunfight against you. You're dangerous!" He laughed. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"You can count on it, Sir." Brisco watched with a smile as Borland walked to his car with the target that Brisco autographed rolled up and tucked under his arm.

"Well, BC, buddy, you made some points with the boss today! He was really impressed by your shooting."

"And what did you think?"

"Eh, it was okay," Cal teased and threw an arm around him. "Hey, why don't we clock out, grab a bite, and go work out? And then we'll go to Trudy's."

"Trudy's?"

"Yeah, like a modern day saloon." Cal laughed.

"I'd really like to see Comet..."

"Oh yeah, you were gonna ride him. Forgot about that. Okay, you can go ride Comet, I'll go work out, and then we can head to Trudy's, get a bite there and have a few beers." He saw Brisco hesitating. "Come on, BC, all work and no play makes Brisco a dull boy. It's Friday night!"

Kelly was working a shift tonight, so if Brisco went back to the apartment, he would be alone. With their circumstances, that wasn't a bad thing. But as Brisco spent more time with his new friends, the less he liked being alone. Despite being an anachronism, he seemed to fit in, yet he often felt out of place when he had time to think. There were some times that, if it weren't for what he left behind, Brisco would seriously consider staying. With Dixie, however, he would never have to worry about being alone, not if she settled down with him in Sunset Ridge with their three kids. No, he was going home, but until then, he would enjoy himself.

"Okay, after we see Comet and I get to ride him, we'll go."

"Awesome!" Cal let Brisco off at Dr. Wickwire's place and continued back to town to get his workout in. "I'll be back in a couple hours. Will you be ready to have some fun?"

Brisco's fun would start when he got in the saddle. "Yes, I'll be ready."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

When Brisco mounted Comet, he felt like he was as close to home as he would ever get. The saddle was borrowed, because when he rode Comet into the future he was bareback, so his perch atop his horse didn't feel as comfortable as his own. He took it slow at first, not completely trusting his injured arm, but as he walked Comet around the corral, he gained more confidence. Kelly showed up, to his surprise, and she watched him canter around the space with a smile on her face. A smile not unlike what he'd seen on her the first time they met.

"Lookin' good up there, Cowboy," she said as she rested her arms on the top rail and placed her chin on them.

Brisco led Comet over to her. "It feels good to be back with Comet again. I think he agrees."

In response, Comet tossed his mane and his lips moved as if he were talking, and he bared his teeth in a smile. Kelly laughed and caressed his snout. "Well, I'm jealous now, Comet. You didn't seem so excited to ride with me."

As he looked down at Kelly, Brisco felt a twinge of sadness for her. She was a beautiful woman, and not just on the outside. It wasn't fair that she had no one to love her outside of her friends and family. In his time, she wouldn't have made it far past her sixteenth birthday without a ton of suitors, unless like Dixie she chose a profession that kept her off limits to good men. But Kelly was an angel, swooping in to aid and comfort. What man wouldn't want such a virtuous woman? He certainly appreciated all she did, and continued to do for him.

If his heart wasn't melded to another, he would be her man. Brisco turned Comet away and went back to riding, because then he wouldn't have to sit there thinking about what he was missing, contrasted by an opportunity that was staring him right in the face behind those warm brown eyes. The next time he turned around, Kelly was gone but her car was still parked near the barn. Maybe she went to speak with Wickwire to see when Comet could leave. Brisco wasn't sure where he would go, since the apartments didn't have a barn. Comet snuffled and turned his head, and Brisco pulled on the rein in the direction he was looking.

Kelly rode out of the barn on a tan and white spotted mare, wearing a big grin. "You don't mind if I ride with you, do you Brisco?"

"Not at all. If you don't mind riding with me."

"Well, somebody's got to be around in case you take a spill or something." She laughed.

"There aren't any cars readily accessible right now to run into, so I doubt that would happen. Come on, let's go. Yeah, Comet!" Brisco gave him rein, kicked his spurs into the horse's sides, and Comet took off like a rocket. They thundered toward the back fence with Kelly in hot pursuit, and both horses easily sailed over the railing. He let Comet run across a wide open field until his sides heaved from the effort. Brisco found himself gasping for air, and he leaned over and embraced his sidekick's neck.

"You okay," Kelly asked. She was out of breath as well.

"I think Comet needs more exercise like that. He's getting soft in that corral." He paused as he sat up. "That makes two of us."

"Well then, let's proceed, shall we?" Kelly slapped the reins and her mount shot forward.

They ran the two horses at a gallop until they neared the edge of the city. Brisco remembered this part of town. It was where Mrs. McCormick saw the time machine truck. He squinted off toward the lowering sun and stopped, pulled out a spyglass, and looked through it.

"You see something?"

"Yes. It's the truck. It's just sitting there, and I don't see anyone around it. Let's go check it out." He urged Comet forward and didn't pay attention to whether or not Kelly followed. He was too focused on his quarry.

"Brisco, shouldn't you have backup or something?" She sounded far away. Her horse's hoofs clattered to catch up to him. "You shouldn't be going over there alone."

Brisco stopped and checked his gun to be sure it was loaded.

"Oh yeah, that's gonna stop a whole gang. If they've got semi-automatics or assault rifles, you're toast!"

"I'm just going to look. If you're that worried, stay back." The seriousness in his tone startled her.

"I'll, uh, wait close by. Just in case."

"Good. I'd prefer that you stayed out of the line of fire. Just in case." He winked at her, turned Comet, and continued his journey to the truck.

As he neared it, he checked out the scenery around him. He wasn't admiring it; he was looking for whoever left the truck. It could very well be a trap. He circled it and looked into the bed. There were several weapons inside, both old and newfangled. The inside of the cabin looked like the back seat of Cal's vehicle. Empty drink cups and food wrappers were everywhere. Someone wedged a pizza box behind the seats. Brisco looked around again as he sidled up to the hood, leaned sideways, and placed his hand on it. It was cold, so the truck was sitting for quite awhile. He heard a noise coming from underneath it, so he dismounted to investigate.

"Hey man, can you pass me that wrench?"

Brisco looked down on the ground and saw a shiny tool with the sunlight glancing off the metal. It didn't look like any wrench he'd ever seen. "You mean this?"

"The socket wrench by my foot."

He nodded, held onto the end, and passed it under to the person beneath the truck.

"Yeah, that's it. Thanks!"

But Brisco didn't let go. He held onto the tool in his gloved hand, and the other person tugged. Then they tugged harder.

"Hey! Stop kiddin' around, dude! If you want this thing to be ready for tonight..."

Brisco didn't expect a woman to come out from underneath the truck. She was young, early 20s, with her dark hair tied into a loose pony tail on the back of her head. Her face bore no makeup, although it was streaked with grease.

"Who are you? Are you one of those outlaws from the past?"

"I'm from the past, yes. But I'm no outlaw. I'm Brisco County Jr."

She sucked in a huge breath and her eyes widened. "Brisco County Jr.?"

"Shh. Could you keep it down, please?"

"Hey! Bill! Pete! It's Brisco!" The girl started to run, but Brisco was faster. He grabbed her by the waist and clamped a hand over her mouth. She struggled against him and threw an elbow into his sore ribs. It sent a wave of pain through his midsection, but he held on tight.

She continued to fight him, and he lost his balance, sending them both to the ground. He rolled on top of her, planting her face down in the dirt. She sputtered as he took his hand from her mouth. Before she could recover to yell, he stripped off his bandana and tied it around her mouth to keep her from screaming. Taking a pair of handcuffs he borrowed from Cal, just in case, he put them on her wrists and hauled her to her feet. He glanced around, but no one came to her aid.

"Miss, I'm afraid I'm going to have to take you in for aiding and abetting known criminals."

Her eyes widened again and she tried screaming, but it was useless. Brisco picked her up and threw her over Comet's back and into the saddle. Then he himself mounted the saddle, rearranged her so she sat more on his lap than on the saddle horn, and grabbed the reins.

"Brisco, who is that?" Kelly gaped as he rode past her at a fast clip.

"A suspect," he replied, but he was already far enough away that Kelly had to spur her mount to catch up.

Brisco didn't stop until he returned to Wickwire's place. He dismounted and pulled the woman off Comet's back. Once she was on her feet she tried to run, but he clamped both arms around her and wouldn't let go. A stable hand took Comet back to the barn, the horse protesting all the way.

"Who is she?"

"I don't know, but she must have been working for the Swills and Pete Hutter."

"Pete who?"

"Hutter."

Kelly shook her head, mystified. "This whole thing is just getting stranger and stranger."

"You're telling me! Hey, can you get on your phone and call Cal? Tell him Trudy's will have to wait."

"Seriously, Brisco? He was going to take you to Trudy's?" She shook her head and muttered, "I knew he had no class, but jeez!" She dialed his number and he picked up quickly. "Hi Cal, it's me. I'm with Brisco at Dr. Wickwire's place. He apprehended an accomplice of the Swills. Uh huh. Yeah, he told me." She smiled at Brisco. "Okay, we'll do that. See you in a bit." She hung up and turned to Brisco. He still held the woman in his arms, but she'd given up fighting him.

"We're supposed to meet him at the station with your suspect. Come on."

Brisco stayed in back with the woman while Kelly drove. She snuck glances in the rearview mirror, wondering what on earth she had to do with the time machine. During the trip, he removed the bandana and hung it loosely around his neck again, but the girl made no sound. She just glared at Brisco.

"Could you at least tell me your name?" He received silence in return. "It'll be a lot easier on you if you just tell me what you were doing out there."

"I want a lawyer. You can't ask me questions without a lawyer."

Brisco smiled. He knew exactly what she was talking about. As a trained lawyer himself, when he started working with Cal, he spent some time studying procedural law and was familiar with the Miranda rights. They would never have worked in his time, where people shot first and asked questions later.

"You don't need a lawyer if you're clean." He threw in that bit of slang, trying to make her feel more at ease. He knew appearances could be deceiving, but his gut told him this woman wasn't the one they should be arresting. She was a tool, but if she would only talk, she could be very useful.

"We're here, Brisco."

Brisco pulled his captive out of the back, slammed the door, and said, "You better go home, Kelly. I'll see you later."

"Brisco." But he was already half way to the door with the handcuffed woman getting brave again. He gripped her arm with his left hand and turned to face her. She stopped squirming.

"If you stop struggling and just tell us what you know, and you're not involved directly, you've got nothing to fear." His eyes locked onto hers and softened. "Trust me, please. We just want to clean up this mess and get these outlaws back to the past where they belong."

Her brow wrinkled. "I don't know anything."

Brisco sighed and turned her toward the door. "I was afraid you would make this difficult if you're in with the Swills and Hutter." Neither of them said a word as he escorted her through the station to Cal's desk.

"Thanks a lot BC, you ruined a perfectly good evening with this…Louisa. What the… Okay, Brisco, you can take those cuffs off her and stop messing around."

"No, I can't. I found her working on the time machine. She won't tell me how she fits into all of this..."

"I want a lawyer, Cal." Louisa stood straight, rooted to the spot.

"Lou, you don't need a lawyer. Come on, BC. This is ridiculous! She's a grad student, not a criminal!"

"Obviously, you two know each other. So spill it." Brisco pulled out a chair next to Cal's desk and sat her in it.

"Who does this guy think he is?"

Cal came around the desk and unlocked the cuffs. Brisco noted that he kept them, as if he couldn't trust him to use them responsibly. "He's sort of my partner." Cal gave him a look, then turned to her. "So, what's going on here, Lou? What's Brisco talking about? What are you doing working on the time machine?"

"Someone paid me to tweak a few things. The professor recommended me. These guys, they're kind of weird, not all that bright, really, but…they pay well. And I'm a poor grad student who needs money and experience. So I took the job."

"You didn't consider whether or not it was illegal?" Brisco stared at her.

"Well, since when is a time machine illegal? Unless you consider it's breaking the laws of physics, but I'm not really sure it's doing that." She shook her head. "Only the professor knows how the thing really works. He just asked me, with my mechanical skills, to tighten up a few things. I added some stronger valves. That's all."

"So is this machine ready to use again," Brisco asked her as he grabbed a chair, turned it around and straddled it, resting his arms on the seat back.

Louisa looked at him and her eyes softened. He was interested in hearing what she had to say, not just book her and throw away the key.

"Louisa, I'm sorry if I seemed a little rough with you, but one, you put up a good fight," he said with a smile, but quickly sobered. "And two, I've dealt with the Swill brothers and Pete Hutter before. They're stupid, but dangerous." He tapped his shoulder. "I almost had fatal lead poisoning in my shoulder courtesy of the Swills."

"So you're just settling a score. I get it."

"No. I'm seeking justice, and trying to set things back into place. I don't belong here any more than they do. We should all be back in the past, and I'm afraid if this professor 'tweaks' this machine, he's going to use it to bring back even more dangerous men, like John Bly."

"Bly." Louisa turned white. "He mentioned him. And he said something about Bly and an orb."

Brisco visibly deflated and slumped over the chair back. "No, no, no."

"BC, what is it?"

"The orb. I can't explain what it is or what it does, but I can tell you that in the wrong hands, it could be more dangerous than any weapon known to man. If they go back far enough to pick up Bly..." He shook his head slowly. "I...I am truly afraid of what could happen to all time as we know it."

Throughout the interview, Cal stood with his fists resting on his paperwork. He let out a deep breath. "Okay, I'm ordering a pizza. It looks to me like we're going to be here awhile."


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

"I really wish I could tell you guys more, but that's it. In a nutshell, I'm just a broke college student who needed money. Brackett came to me and hired me to work on his truck. Then the professor said he'd give me more money if I could help him with an experiment, so I said okay. I really had no idea why the professor was tied to this, until the Swills joined up with Brackett's gang and I found out that Brackett brought them from the past." She shook her head and went to the window, looking out at the darkness beyond the streetlights. "Apparently, in some weird way, the Swills are related to Brackett, Scotty, and Larry." She stuffed her hands into her pockets and walked back to the desk.

"They're related? Oh dear, I don't even want to think of how."

"Inbreeding again?" Cal asked, and Brisco gave him a look warning him to go no further. "It's amazing they don't have like three arms or something."

Louisa couldn't help but laugh at the picture. "I don't know anything about genetics, but that sounds awfully far-fetched." She sat down with a heaving sigh. "So, what do we do?"

"Is the machine ready to work tonight," Brisco asked.

"It needs a few adjustments for it to be more precise. I mean, the way it is now, if they try to go back, they could wind up coming short...or overshoot their mark."

"How do they even control what year they go to?"

"There's a clock on the dash, and the accelerator controls how fast or slow they go backwards in time. It's a lot more complicated than that, but the professor wouldn't reveal everything to me, just what I needed to know to fix it." She took a sip of soda. "One thing I do know. This all started on a bet."

"So I heard," Brisco said with a smirk. "I was there when Brackett and his boys slammed into the saloon to get, of all things, some bottles of whiskey." He shook his head. "That made no sense."

"It does if the professor is also an antiquities collector, especially such things as old wines and liquors," Louisa replied with a smile. "I know he tried getting funding for this time machine project through the university and they just laughed him off. I guess he decided to show them, didn't he. Proved it worked and got some collectible hooch in the bargain."

Brisco nodded. "Clever. But now he's going for something bigger. The orb. He's just using everybody else as pawns to get what he wants. Once he gets his hands on the orb, he wouldn't need the truck anymore."

"From what you've told me about Bly, BC, this is one dude he doesn't want to mess around with." Cal snagged the last slice of pizza. It was cold, but he didn't care.

"Agreed. We need to stop them from getting Bly, and I believe that we need to do this tonight."

Louisa looked at him, gaping, not believing what he was suggesting. "But those guys have weapons that don't exist in the 19th century, and you just have that gun. Brisco, it would be suicide to go against them!"

"He's not alone, Lou."

"Cal. You two guys against seven heavily armed men...it's crazy." Tears filled her eyes and she reached out and placed a hand on Brisco's sleeve. "You've got to find another way! If I can help, I will. I know they had...plans...for me after they were done. I'm not stupid, I know what they meant, but I was afraid to go to the police. Now I'm here, and I want to help. If you and the Swills have a past, I'm afraid they're going to be gunning for you big time, and then nobody will be able to stop them."

"But you've got something the Swills didn't count on: backup."

Brisco sat up straighter and turned, gaping at Borland standing behind them. He was a sight in blue jeans and a black t-shirt that hugged every muscle in his chest. With his usual uniform of dress shirts and slacks, Brisco never would have guessed that Borland was that well built and ready for action.

"Come on, quit jaw-jacking and get the lead out! Time's wasting, and you, Mr. County, oughtta know better than anyone that time is fleeting."

It was then that they noticed a small contingent of officers standing behind Borland in plainclothes. Each one carried a rifle, and handguns that looked like they meant business holstered to their sides. Counting Cal and Brisco, they would have ten against seven, with only one revolver among them. If he didn't appreciate the support, Brisco would have felt inadequate with his weapon.

"Alright then, let's go get 'em." Cal stood, checked his sidearm and walked over to Borland. "Brisco?"

Brisco stood, pulled on his jacket, and set his hat on his head. He looked down at Louisa. "Ma'am, you might want to stay here. This could get very dangerous."

"Good luck, Brisco." She stood and smiled at him. "Despite the way we met, I'm glad we did. When Pete and the Swills mentioned you, I did some digging on the internet." Her smile widened. "You're a good man. I hope you can get back home and continue your work there."

"Thank you." He pointed at her and said, "And now you know, the next time someone offers you a job, ask questions. Lots of them." He grinned.

She nodded and threw herself into his arms, giving him a tight embrace. Then she kissed his cheek. "For luck."

He carefully disengaged himself from her with a wide, appreciative smile. He nodded, touched the brim of his hat with two fingers, and turned away.

Cal leaned close and rasped, "Man, BC, how do you do that? I went on three dates with that chick and I couldn't get more than a handshake!"

"Oh, I find that hard to believe! She's a nice girl. You just need to know how to charm her, that's all."

"County, that boy has about as much charm as a coyote on the prowl. He'll never change." He passed a rifle to Brisco, and Cal took an assault rifle from one of the other team members. "I take it you're gonna want to ride Comet. I had Kelly call Wickwire to have him ready."

"If what happens tonight sends us back to the past, yes, I don't want to leave him behind. Thank you, Sir. You've been a good man to work with."

Borland smiled. "I'm gonna frame that target, you know. Put it right over my fireplace in my den. My wife'll hate it, but..."

"You're married?"

"What? Why do you find that strange?"

Brisco shook his head. "I'm sorry, the man you remind me of, Lord Bowler, isn't. He has a personality that, well, until you get to know him, is a little...abrasive." He cringed, afraid to rile the man just before he needed his help.

"I'm not abrasive. Am I, fellas?"

"Nope. No, Sir. Not at all."

No one could keep a straight face, Borland included. Amazingly, he laughed just like Bowler. "That's what I love about you guys, always honest."

The panel truck they rode in took them to their destination. By the time they arrived, all levity was cast aside. Brisco emerged from the back and saw Comet standing beside Kelly. He approached her, and suddenly he wasn't so sure about trying to go home. It would be dangerous, and if he didn't make it, both Dixie and Kelly would be left alone. Still, if everything went well, whether he stayed or left, one woman would find a forever empty space in her heart. As strong as Dixie was, somehow he had the feeling that Kelly would come away with fewer scars.

"Brisco, I'm sorry I've been such a..."

"Shhh, it's okay." He pulled her into an embrace. She didn't feel like Dixie, but he could certainly do worse if he were stuck in this time. "I understand. If there wasn't someone else..."

"I know, Dixie has your heart. You'll always have a bit of mine, but don't feel bad. I let myself get into this mess, and I'll get myself out eventually." She framed his face with her hands. "I'll probably hate myself for this later, but...here goes." She pulled him down and her warm lips covered his.

Brisco was shocked, but yet he knew it was coming. For her, he responded, reveling in what might have been if he'd been a man of this time. His arms wrapped around her body, his lips molding to her warm ones, and it was pure heaven. She would make another man very happy some day, he had no doubt about that. But in the here and now, they had a job to do, and as much as he enjoyed kissing Kelly, it was time to do it. He slowly pulled away and looked into her eyes as they blinked back tears. He felt his own watering as he reached up and caressed her cheek.

"Good bye, Kelly. I hope that you find that lucky guy soon. You're a terrific woman, and you deserve a good man."

"Thank you, Brisco. But I'm afraid I have some high standards, and the men around here aren't like you." She pulled back abruptly, patted his arm, and said, "You better get going. Don't want things to get even more out of whack with time, right?"

"Right." He turned and grabbed Comet's reins. "Oh, tell the doc, thanks for the saddle. I wish there was a way I could get it back to him."

"It's okay. He told me it was a contribution to the cause." She smiled, raised a hand, and waved goodbye. She turned and mounted the mare that she rode earlier, determined to watch from a safe distance.

Brisco nodded to her and mounted Comet. "Okay, Comet. Let's go home."

They approached the truck carefully. Someone had set up two floodlights, and Pete, Scotty and Larry were preparing the truck bed for the orb. Borland and his team flanked them in the dark, but Brisco rode in on Comet to distract the outlaws.

"Barisco...well, well, well. I was hoping you'd show up sometime."

"Pete. Have you really given any thought to what you're trying to do?" Brisco sat straight in his saddle, but his tone was like that of a parent scolding a child.

"I'm makin' an honest living here, Barisco, so just lay off, as they like to say in these here parts!"

"I can't, Pete. You need to go back with me, and so do Bill, Phil, and Will."

A shot rang out, narrowly missing Brisco. He ducked and turned toward the source. They suddenly found themselves ambushed by the Swills, who were tucked up in the foothills to the east and north. Borland's team fired back from cover created by rocks and trees. Only Brisco, Pete, and the two modern Swills were exposed.

Brackett yelled from the driver's seat. "Come on, boys! We've got a train to catch!" Pete hung onto the bar, and Larry and Scotty got into the truck. They took off toward the far mountains, and Brisco urged Comet to pursue them.

"Brisco!"

He heard Cal's voice behind him, but he shouldn't have. He thought Cal was with the others taking cover. But he heard other hooves besides Comet's, and coming up on his left, in the moonlight he saw Cal riding Kelly's mount.

"Cal! Go back!"

"No! You can't take them on yourself!"

They neared an overhang and Bill, Phil, and Will jumped into the back of the truck with amazing timing and precision. Brackett gunned the engine and they jumped forward. The light started to swirl around the vehicle, enveloping it in a sparkling light.

"Hyah!" Cal spurred his mount forward, passing Brisco and Comet.

"Come on Comet!" Brisco dug his heels into Comet's side, and the horse thundered forward. He had no idea how close they had to get to the truck, but the closer the better to ensure that they made it through the window. But he worried about Cal. He was too close. He would be sucked in along with them. "Cal, turn back, now!"

Suddenly, he felt the magnetic-like pull of the time window. He turned to look at Cal, and the detective's eyes were wide as he no longer had control over the horse. He tried pulling his mount to a stop, but it kept going forward.

"Get ready, Cal! The landing is a little bumpy!"

Cal nodded and followed the truck and Brisco into the vacuum of time, whether he wanted to or not.

Borland watched them disappear.

"What happened, Sir?"

"I think I just lost one of my best detectives." He shook his head. "Damn!"

The truck went through the time window and landed hard on the dirt road, and the two men on horseback followed. It was daylight wherever, or whenever, they landed. Comet whinnied as his hooves hit the dirt, but he stayed on his legs and galloped after the truck. Cal was beside them on his horse, and Brisco thanked God that his friend was as good as his sister when it came to horsemanship. Cal balanced the assault rifle and carefully took aim at the truck back. He fired, and the horse didn't even flinch. Brisco glanced at him and noted that Cal held on with his knees and used both hands to fire subsequent shots. He heard someone scream and he turned back to see a body fall off the side of the truck. It was Larry, and he looked dead, really dead.

Shots fired back at them, so Brisco pulled his rifle and responded. Scotty went down and the truck hit an uneven patch in the road, bumping and bouncing his limp body out of the back. Cal and Brisco had to do some fancy maneuvering to evade the rolling obstacle. Pete still hung onto the back of the truck. He looked over his shoulder at them and cackled as he situated himself so he could hang on and fire with one hand.

A bullet clipped Cal's sleeve and he nearly dropped his weapon, but he recovered quickly and raced on. The road wound around rocks and outcroppings, and Brackett had to slow the truck down. This gave them a better chance of catching them and disabling the vehicle. Cal aimed again as the truck hugged a hairpin turn. He fired, hitting the back tire. It blew out and the back end skidded dangerously close to the edge. Brackett corrected and kept driving. Cal and Brisco cut the curve without getting near the edge. The truck's back end dragged in the dirt, and if they'd been on pavement, the rim would have sparked from the contact. Bracket swung them into another arc and drove down into a valley.

Cal gave Brisco a signal to split and flank the truck. Brisco nodded and took the right, Cal took the left, and they increased their speed to catch up to the truck. Pete hung on the back, tried to keep a hold of his piece and aim at Brisco at the same time. Cal shot at him, and Pete's gun went flying.

"Noooo, my piece! You shot my piece!" Anger filled his dark eyes. "You and your friend are gonna pay for this, Barisco!"

Pete took a chance letting go of the bar and ducked down into the bed. He came up with a...

"Brisco! Look out!"

Pete grimaced in evil glee as he pulled the trigger on the long tube. Brisco pulled Comet back, afraid of what might come out of that contraption. Comet reared up and threw Brisco off his back, tumbling down to the ground with him just as the weapon spewed smoke and a small projectile. Only it didn't head for them. It went back behind Pete. As soon as he realized his error, Pete's face fell and he turned just in time to see the projectile miss Cal. If he hadn't ducked, his head would have been gone. The grenade exploded harmlessly into the side of a large rock.

"Comet, get up! We've got to catch up to them!" Brisco stood and led Comet up to his feet, then launched himself up into the saddle again. He was surprised to find himself gaining on the truck a lot quicker than he would have expected. "It's slowing down, Comet! Why is it doing that?" Not that he minded, since it would just make catching them all that much easier.

The front of the truck spewed thick clouds of smoke, and flames shot out from underneath the hood. Cal jumped off his mount and landed on Pete, and the two fought in the bed of the truck. Brisco could almost reach out and touch the tailgate. Then suddenly, the vehicle pitched forward as if it had gotten its second wind, and the gap widened. Cal had Pete pinned to the floor and was cuffing him, when suddenly the engine compartment blew up. A fireball erupted into the sky in front of the cab.

"No! Cal, get off!" Brisco watched in horror as the truck didn't make the curve and dropped down at a steep angle into a crevasse. He brought Comet up short, and the spotted mare trailed behind, halted, and calmly caught its breath while munching on some grass. Brisco ignored the mare and threw himself off of Comet. He ran to the edge of the crevasse. The truck was impacted into a tiny gap that would have been better suited to a compact car. He couldn't see Brackett or the other Swills. Pete had fallen out of the bed and lay in a bloody mess at the bottom.

"Where is he? Where's Cal?"

"You called?"

"Cal!" Brisco stood and whirled around in a tight circle, but he didn't see him anywhere.

"Hey, BC! You mind...givin' a guy a hand?" Cal gasped.

Brisco found him clinging to the edge of the crevasse, his legs swinging in an attempt to lift one to the surface. "Holy moley, Cal! I thought I saw you go down with the truck!" Brisco knelt down, kept his weight back, and grabbed Cal's arm to help pull him up. Comet stepped over to them, grasped the back of Cal's shirt with his teeth, and helped.

"Ahhh, man, am I gonna be sore!" Cal grimaced as he got his knee up on the ledge and finished pulling himself up. Brisco rolled him away until he was completely on solid ground. Out of breath, Cal gasped and patted Brisco's boot. "Thanks...thanks, BC."

"You're welcome, Cal." Brisco sat near him catching his own breath. "We have a problem."

"Nononono, you get only one problem a day, BC." Cal grinned as he stuck one finger in the air. "Just kidding." He carefully sat up and tested himself for injuries. "I'm alive. You're alive. The Swills, past and present, and Pete Hutter...well, most likely they're all dead." He glanced over and peered down into the crevasse. "Yeah, my money's on them being dead. So what's the problem?"

Brisco looked at him, shook his head, and propped his elbow on a bent knee. "You're stuck in the past, Cal."

"What year?"

"I haven't got a clue."

"Well, then, we're kind of in the same boat together, huh?" He carefully picked himself up off the ground, probed and prodded a few ribs, and winced. "I think I broke something."

"Unfortunately for you, unless we're anywhere near No Man's Land, you're not going to find some beautiful medically inclined woman to nurse you back to health."

"No Man's Land?"

"I'll tell you all about it on the way to the next town." They mounted their horses and took the road that Brackett missed.

"How do you know there's a town this way?"

"This is a well-traveled road, not just some wagon path. There'll be something up ahead soon enough, I'm sure of it."


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

After passing through the valley and going through some rocky terrain, they found their road met up with another and at the fork stood a sign.

"Hope Falls five miles to the west, and Granite Butte to the east five miles. Which way, BC?"

"We want to go to Hope Falls. After that, about ten miles south is Sunset Ridge, the town where I was appointed sheriff."

"Wow. And then what? It feels so anti-climactic after what we just went through chasing the Swills." Cal shook his head. "And I'm not even armed anymore. I lost my rifle, not that I'd find any ammo here, and my sidearm. Don't know where that went. I wouldn't have anything to load it with anyway," he sighed as he let his horse fall into step with Comet.

"Tell you what. We get into Sunset Ridge, and if I'm still the sheriff there, I'll deputize you and you can have your pick from the guns in the cabinet in the office."

"Really? That's awesome, BC!" His grin faded. "I can still call you that, can't I?"

Brisco chuckled. "Of course, Cal."

Cal saw the outskirts of the town of Hope Falls in the wide basin of a valley. "Dang, that's a small town!"

"There are a lot of those on the frontier. Come on, let's get down there, see if we can find a newspaper, and we'll have an idea of when we are."

"Good idea, Brisco." They stirred their horses into a gallop and neared the town, then slowed to a trot as they entered the town limits. As they rode through, some people stared at them, but others continued on their way as if strangers were commonplace. Cal nodded to a woman who caught his eye. She nodded in return, politely, and two little boys ran up to her chattering away, taking her attention from him. He snorted. "Figures, I see a hot chick and she's got kids. Out here that probably means she's married, right?"

"Most likely," Brisco answered with an amused smile. "Hey, there's a restaurant up there. Why don't we stop for a bite?"

"You got any cash on you? At least, anything that'll work here?" Cal looked around. "I don't know about you but I don't see any ATMs."

The statement caused Brisco's eyes to crinkle as his chest bobbed in laughter. "That's a good one, Cal!"

"What? It's true!"

They stopped in front of the restaurant and tied up their horses at a hitching post. Cal got off carefully and stretched the insides of his legs.

"I take it that it's been awhile since you've ridden?"  
>"Yeah. I used to do rodeo riding, but after I joined the force, I kinda gave it up. I ride for recreation now and then, borrow Marshmallow here."<p>

"Marshmallow?"

"Yeah, Kelly named her when she got her as a 19th birthday present. Contrary to her name, she can be a real pistol when she needs to be."

"Obviously. She helped us chase down the Swill brothers."

"Yep." He stepped up onto the wood porch and listened to his footsteps thudding on it. He smiled. "Wow, it really does sound like that."

Brisco looked at him strangely.

"What I mean is, when I was a kid I watched all these westerns, and when they'd step up onto the boardwalk, I always wondered what it really sounded like." He grinned. "Soon as I can, I have to get some boots with the spurs, and then I can jingle jangle like you." Cal laughed at the funny expression Brisco gave him before opening the door and going inside the restaurant.

"Hello, welcome to the Hope Falls Cafe. My name is Todd, I'll be your waiter. Please follow me, gentlemen, and I'll seat you." Todd picked up two menus and led them to an empty table near the window. As they sat, he continued. "Our specials today are petite barbecued chickens with wild rice stuffing, tenderized beefsteak marinated in mushroom sauce, and my personal favorite, smoked salmon imported directly from San Francisco."

Cal looked up at him. "Thanks, but I'd like to take a look at the menu."

"Me too."

"I'll give you a few minutes, then." Todd turned smartly on his heel to greet the next customers.

Cal whistled behind his menu.

"Something wrong, Cal?"

"These prices, Brisco! My god, they're...theyr'e cheap!"

"Not in relation to the kind of money you'll make as my deputy." Brisco returned his attention to the menu and almost had his mind made up when something caught his eye outside the window. A stagecoach rumbled down the street and stopped directly in front of the hotel across from the restaurant. A few people disembarked and headed for the restaurant. Some hugged waiting people. But one in particular stole his attention.

"Kelly." Cal's voice came out in a breath.

"Dixie." Her name stuck in his throat. One second later, Brisco shot out of his seat, grabbed his hat and headed for the exit. "Stay here, Cal!"

Brisco stopped at the entrance and let the new diners enter, impatience bubbling up within him. If they didn't hurry, she might walk away and he'd never see where she went. Then the door was open, and he ran into the street. He glanced down to where the stage was, but he couldn't see her. His head swiveled around wondering where she could have gone so fast. But when he turned back to the east, he saw her emerge from the general store, and a sob threatened to burst out of his throat.

Instead, he yelled, "Dixie!"

Her head came up from whatever she was looking at in her hands.

"Dixie!" He started running toward her. "Dixie!"

She saw him, and her eyes lit up with unshed tears. "Brisco!" She cried, picked up her skirts, and ran to him. "Oh, Brisco! You're safe!"

They collided on the sidewalk with such force, they nearly fell over. Brisco kept them on their feet as he took her into his arms, lifted her so her toes dangled in the air as he tilted his head down, and found the perfect fit with her lips against his. She tasted so sweet, and he suddenly lost his appetite for anything but her. They were oblivious to the people walking around them, eyeing their open display of affection that was bordering on something better left behind closed doors. When they finally came up for air, Dixie's lips were puffy and smiling as she fanned herself with a hand.

"My my, and I was going to reprimand you for leaving me six months ago. I think you just started your apology,"

"Six months? That's how long I've been gone?" He let her down slowly, and she felt what their reunion did to him.

"Mmmhmm, it seemed like a lifetime." She purred as she threaded her arm through his. "Why don't we finish this somewhere a little more private?"

"Oh, I'd love to Dix, but we need to get over to the restaurant."

"Why?" She looked disappointed. "I'm not that kind of hungry."

He wouldn't admit that neither was he. "There's someone I'd like you to meet."

Cal turned toward the door when Brisco entered with Dixie. His eyes widened as he took her in, and by the time they stopped at the table and Brisco held out a chair for her, Cal couldn't find the words for his amazement. He suddenly remembered that gentlemen in this time stood for a lady, so he shot out of his chair.

"Ah, you have another party. Excuse me, I'll bring another place setting."

"Thank you," Brisco said as he sat to Dixie's right at the round table. Cal was directly across from him, still staring at Dixie.

"Is there something wrong with your friend, Brisco?" She tried to look at him, but his wide eyes had her spooked.

"Cal. Cal. Cal!" He snapped his fingers in front of his friend's face.

"Oh, what? Sorry, BC. Sorry, Miss...you, uh, well, you look like my sister Kelly. If she wore her hair like that with all those gorgeous curls, oh man, she'd look just like you." He grinned warmly.

Dixie replied with a warm smile of her own, because she found it hard to resist a man who smiled like that. He had nice teeth too, which didn't hurt. "So, are you going to introduce us?" She turned to Brisco.

"Dixie, this is Cal Reynolds. Cal, Dixie Cousins."  
>"Ahhh, now I see why you were so dead set on getting back here, BC. If I had a woman like her waiting, so would I." He shook his head. "I still can't believe how she looks like Kelly, though!" He glanced down at the slight cleavage showing above her bodice. "Gotta admit though, she's got some attributes that my sister only wished she had."<p>

"Cal." Brisco gave him a disgusted look.

Dixie's lilting laugh covered up the faux pas, and she reached out to caress Cal's hand that lay on the table. "I like you, Cal. You tell it like it is, no beating around the bush."

"Yeah, well, Dixie, that's gotten me into trouble a few times."

"I bet. Good trouble, I hope."

"Not if you call breaking up a dope deal and calling the perp you've been hunting down for three months a lame idiot for being so stupid good trouble."

Dixie held her grin in check, but a look of complete incomprehension crossed her face. Then she turned to Brisco. "What exactly happened to you? You disappeared one night from Sunset Ridge, and the next day everyone was talking about it. Sheriff Weatherly had to keep his post until they could get someone new to take your place."

"He filled the job right out from under me?"

"No. Contrary to what everyone was saying, he kept insisting that you'd come back." She smiled wide. "He had faith in you, Brisco. He knew that whatever dragged you away would pass, and eventually you would come back."

"I'm sorry, Dix. It's a really long story."

"Which you can tell me over lunch."

They ordered, and as they waited for their food to arrive, Brisco and Cal told her what happened. If it had just been Cal telling the story, she wouldn't have believed it, but she trusted Brisco wholeheartedly, even with her life. He would never lie to her. So if he said he went off on a journey into the future, he went into the future. They wrapped up their narration as Todd laid the check on the table. Brisco picked it up, but Dixie pulled it from his hand.

"What are you doing, Dix?"

"You just came back from the future. I doubt you have any legal tender to pay this." She grinned. "Allow me, just this once."

Before she could react, he pulled it from her hand and studied the numbers. Then he held it away from her reach and fished in his pocket. "Good thing I had the foresight to keep my old money with me at all times, just in case I wound up back here." He pulled out a wad of bills and counted out enough for the bill and a tip.

Dixie tilted her head and gave him a cold stare. He only smiled, leaned forward, and kissed her lips. "Thanks anyway, Dix. By the way." he turned on a charming smile as he took her hand and caressed it with his thumb. "Have I told you lately that I love you?"

"Not in, oh...over six months." They chuckled and kissed again until Cal cleared his throat.

Their lips parted and they regained their composure. "Sorry, Cal. Um, we better get moving. Your stage is probably going to leave soon. Where you headed?"

"I was going back to San Francisco. A girl's gotta make a living, you know, and the saloon in Sunset Ridge was getting a little old." He tilted her gloved hand toward his. He took it and stood with her. "But if you're nice, I might be persuaded to stay awhile."

"That can be arranged." He led them out to the street and they crossed to the stagecoach. "Cal, will you help get Dixie's luggage down? I'm going to see if I can rent a wagon that'll get us to Sunset Ridge. I'll be right back, Dixie. Slap him if he gets out of line, okay?"

She licked her lips and watched Brisco's backside as he sauntered down the boardwalk. She noted the spring in his step and sighed. She wasn't sure which one of them was happier. Dixie played with a curl, dragged her eyes away from the man she adored, and turned to Cal. "So, Cal, you said you have a sister back home?"

"Yes, her name is Kelly. She and I are twins."

"I have a sister, but we're definitely not twins. If we were, we'd be like Cain and Abel."

Cal chuckled nervously. "Kel and I, we get at each other's throats now and then, but...but I love her to death." He blinked as he stared out on the strange new world he found himself in. "I'm never gonna see her again, Dixie. Never." He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. There were no bars on the signal indicator. The screen said "No Service". "This thing is useless here, except for this." He touched the screen as Dixie got closer to look over his shoulder.

"What is that?"

"It's called a smartphone. Lots of people have them in my time. We use them instead of the telegraph. You can actually hear the person you're communicating with, as if they were in the same room."

"I've heard of telephones, Cal. They have them in the bigger cities like San Francisco. So why's this thing smart?"

"No wires, and it has all these applications on it. Like this one, it's a photo album of sorts." He touched the screen again and one of his favorite pictures of Kelly came up. "There she is, my sister." It was a head shot of her smiling, acting goofy at an amusement park. "That was taken when we went down to San Diego. I was at a police conference on special operations and tactics, and she just came along for the fun of it." He smiled wistfully as he scrolled through the pictures. "And she was getting over Jerkman."

Dixie was too smart to ask. Instead, she changed the subject a bit. "They're all colored pictures. And people smile in them."

"Yeah. Here, let me show you how this works." He pulled away from her and said, "Smile, Dixie!" He hit a button on the screen, then came back to her. "Now watch. This is the picture I just took."

Dixie gasped as she saw herself on the screen. "Oh my, Cal! That's fantastic!"

"Yeah, well, only as long as the battery lasts. Since I won't be calling anyone or using the internet features on the phone, it might last seven to ten days. I just charged it shortly before we left the twenty first century."

"The twenty first? I knew Brisco said you were from the future, but that's, well, that's a long way."

"Yes, it is. And with the time machine a complete wreck, I'm stuck here." He shrugged. "I suppose it won't be all bad. I liked westerns as a kid. I think they kind of influenced my career choice." He cocked a crooked grin. "But the thing I'll miss the most is hanging out with my sister. Going bowling, grabbing some beers with her, and going to the movies. She's the only woman I could get to go with me to see the action films."

Dixie knew that now was not the time to ask questions about the things he mentioned. He was hurting. She threaded her arm through his and laid her head on Cal's shoulder. But he was tall like Brisco, so it was more like his chest than his shoulder. "I'm sorry. I wish Kelly could have come here with you."

"Thanks, Dixie. Maybe you can be my sister by proxy." He tried on a smile.

"Hey, what's going on here? I leave for five minutes, and the new guy starts messing with my girl!"

Neither of them looked like they were in the mood for joking, so Brisco sobered. "I got us a ride. A couple heading back to Sunset Ridge. They'll be happy to take you, Dix, and the luggage. Cal and I can ride our horses."

"Okay. I don't care how we get there, so long as we get back to where we belong." Dixie gasped and turned to Cal with an ache in her eyes. "Oh, I"m sorry, Cal! I didn't mean it that way."

"It's okay, Dixie. No harm, no foul. I know what you meant." He glanced at Brisco. "I bet it's really nice to be home, isn't it, BC?"

"Yes, but I wish you hadn't had to lose everything, Cal. I promise you, if there's a way, we'll find it. We'll get you back home."

"Let's not worry about that right now. On to Sunset Ridge. I'm really curious to see what Eastman used to be!"


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Brisco got Dixie settled into the hotel and made sure Cal had a place to lay his head. With them taking up two rooms, the hotel was full, so Brisco decided the cot in the office wasn't so bad, at least until he and Dixie found a place to live and married. Normally, he would have accepted Dixie's invitation to stay with her, but he had an image to protect now. He was the sheriff, a position that should be looked upon as being held by a man above reproach. Sleeping with the saloon entertainer wouldn't go very far in creating that image. That's one thing he learned about the future, that people looked at those in authority a different way and expected them to be better than everyone else. As long as the image they demanded was maintained, they respected authority and behaved themselves. If they thought the sheriff was no better than the common ruffians, chaos would rule the streets.

"I knew you'd come back," Sheriff Weatherly cried as Brisco entered the office with Cal. Dixie was in the hotel settling back into her room.

"Yes, sir. I wish I could tell you what kept me away, but..." It was better if they kept it to just the three of them.

"No worries, son! Now, if you'll excuse me," he quickly pinned the star on Brisco's jacket. He eyed the buckskin, thinking that something was different about it. Then he shook his head, polished the star with a handkerchief, and said, "Farewell, Brisco. Good luck! If you need any help, well..."

"Don't worry, Sir. I already have a deputy." He inclined his head toward Cal.

Weatherly looked the stranger up and down, noting the odd clothing he wore. "I see."

"Oh, before you leave, could I please have the keys to the gun cabinet and the cells?"

"Certainly, Brisco! I know I forgot that the last time." He chuckled, fished the keys out of his desk drawer, and handed them to him. "Well," he sighed. "I'm off to the springs!" He turned and nearly ran out of the office.

Cal nodded at the retreating sheriff. "Now there's a man who stayed in the job too long." He put his hands together and rubbed them. "So, what do we do first?"

"I deputize you, get you armed...and then we get you some clothes. You look way out of place in the jeans and t-shirt!"

"Hey, what's wrong with the jeans. I'm keeping 'em. But the shirt, yeah, I could stand for some new duds." He winked. "Hear that? I'm trying to pick up the vernacular."

"You've got a long way to go, my friend."

"You know, I haven't had a whole lot of experience doing this," Cal said as he watched Brisco in the mirror. "I mean, I've had dates, but nothing ever got serious. At least not this serious."

"Have you considered going out with that girl who works at the general store?" Brisco buttoned his sleeve and swiped at some stray lint. Then he nervously pulled at the string tie.

"She's cute, but, I don't know. Whenever I go in there she gets all tongue-tied, and her daddy stands there and gives me the eye. Like I'm not good enough for her. If he keeps that up she'll die an old maid, 'cause no one is gonna have a chance with her."

"He's just trying to preserve her virtue. After all, he's also the preacher. Which reminds me, you better not tick him off or Dixie and I might have to go somewhere else to get married."

"She hasn't said yes yet. Although I suppose it's a no-brainer that she's going to when you pop the question tonight." Cal sat on the edge of the desk and grinned from ear to ear. "You're a lucky guy, Brisco. Real lucky."

"Maybe some day you'll find someone as special as Dixie. Maybe she'll come riding into town on a horse, in need of a dashing hero." He winked. "That's you, Cal."

He laughed. "You better get a move on, or you'll be late. Not a good way to impress your future spouse."

"You've got that right! Don't wait up for me." Brisco grabbed his new formal black hat off the coat rack and placed it on his head. It perfectly matched the styling of his suit. "Night, Cal. You sure you've got everything here?"

"Come on, BC, I'm fine! Just get!" Cal gave him a shove out the door.

Cal was right, it was a no-brainer when he asked and Dixie said yes. The sound of the word on her lips sent his heart soaring as they sat on a blanket on the outskirts of town, a canopy of stars twinkling overhead. None of them could match the sparkle in her eye when he gave her the ring. It wasn't anything fancy, but it had been his mother's. She adored it as much as him.

It felt so good to be in her arms, knowing that they would soon be man and wife. He couldn't figure out why he was so afraid of it before. Maybe having what he expected from life pulled out from under him made him rethink everything and what he found most valuable. He still loved chasing down the bad guys and fighting crime. But chasing after and catching a Dixie was a lot more exciting. He couldn't wait to see what their future held, even if he already knew some of it.

For the time being, however, it involved kissing her deeply until he felt a tingling all over his body. Her caresses sent him to the brink of desire. Sheriff or no sheriff, tonight he was just Brisco County Jr.. Underneath the stars, he made love to her in a sheltered grotto where no one would find them, and as they peaked together and lay in each others arms basking in the afterglow, he looked forward to the next time. She was like a drug, and he couldn't get enough.

Cal was still at the office when Brisco let himself inside. He dropped his new boots off the desk, and his spurs jingle jangled as he approached him. "So, how'd it go? Duh, all I had to do was look at your face. Who needs an oil lamp when you've got a hundred watt smile going on there!"

"She said yes."

"Of course. So when's the date?"

"Next month. We need to find a home before we get married, and if there isn't anything already built, I hope you have some construction skills. I'll need your help, desperately, Cal."

"I'll do what I can. But you know there's that empty house on the east side of town overlooking the river. It's for sale. I, uh, was thinking about ya, man. I scoped it out for ya." He handed Brisco a piece of paper. "Here's the information on it, the price, and the realtor's name. They're from out of town." He added with a smile. "Plenty of room for you, Dixie, and three kids."

Brisco suddenly realized just how great a friend he had in Cal. Still heady with emotion from his proposal, he reached out and gave him a man hug. "Thanks, Cal."

"No problem, man."

Brisco pulled back and studied his friend in the dim light. "Is there something wrong?"

Cal didn't speak at first. Brisco could see him trying to form the words. Finally, he shook his head vigorously as if that would dislodge them. "She's gone, BC."

"Who's gone?"

"Kelly!" He picked up the phone from the desk and shook it in front of Brisco's face. "She's gone! The battery died tonight, and now her picture's gone, and...and...and I'm never gonna see her again!"

Brisco knew that Cal was aware this day would come. He'd been conserving his battery for as long as he could. But knowing that fact didn't make it hurt any less when reality hit. Losing that picture was proof that he was stuck, and no matter how much he seemed to like it in 1893, he would always pine for home.

With a growl, Cal flung the phone across the room. It hit the wall and shattered, and Cal along with it. He crumbled to his knees, head in hands, as he sobbed deep resonating tears. Brisco thought that if he had stayed in the future, he would have reacted the same way if he knew that everything he once had could never be his again. He was lucky, he got it all back, but unless a miracle came along, Cal was doomed to spend the rest of his life in the wrong place and time. His heart ached for his friend, and he got down on the floor and placed his hands on his shoulders until the storm passed.

"Come on, Cal. Let me get you home."

"Home? This isn't home, Brisco, not for me. It never will be. You know what sucks the most? Huh? I can never communicate with her! I'll never be able to hear her voice again! There's no way to do it." Before he could turn into a sobbing mess again, Brisco helped Cal to his feet and kept a supporting hand on his shoulder as they walked over to the hotel. He made sure Cal was undressed and in bed before leaving, because he was afraid that his friend would go out and tie one on. Never mind that the saloon closed in an hour. Cal was depressed, and it probably wouldn't take much to tip him over the edge.

In the end, Brisco made a bed on the floor and slept there, with one proverbial eye open in case Cal woke up during the night. But he'd spent himself, and Cal slept like a dead man until morning.

Every day, it hurt a little less, losing his sister. It would flare up again whenever he wondered if she waited for him to return. When a month passed, he wondered if she'd given up and moved on with her life. He hoped she did. He also hoped that she found someone to share her life with, because without him there, she was alone. Their dad died when they were kids, and it was just them and their mother. She tried to find another man, but no one could ever match up to their dad. So there was no immediate family. Relatives lived in the southern part of the state. They might as well be living on the moon...or approximately 120 years in the past.

Cal was deep in thought when footsteps approached. It wasn't until a large shadow crossed over him and a booming voice asked, "You the deputy? Where's Brisco?"

"Lt. Borland! Sir!" Cal snapped out of it, threw his feet off the desk, and almost saluted the tall black man standing before him. Then, as he looked at him from head to toe, he realized that this wasn't who he thought it was.

"The name's Bowler. Lord Bowler." He looked down at Cal and tilted his head as he studied him. "You must be that fella I heard about. Cal."

"Yes, I am, Lord Bowler. It's a pleasure! Brisco told me about you, and honestly, I've been dying to meet you. It's funny how you remind me of my old boss, Lt. Borland."

Bowler leaned in closer. "I'm here for the weddin'. When is it and where? I gotta get back on the trail as soon as it's over. Pete Hutter's on the loose again, and no doubt up to no good."

"Pete Hutter? No way! We saw him go splat at the bottom of a crevasse!"

"One thing you gotta understand about ole Pete. He's got more lives than a cat. So until you see his brains scattered all over the ground, if'n he's got any, you can't be sure he's dead. Even then, I'd wait until he's been buried for a few days, just to be sure."

"Sounds like a good reason for embalming." Cal let out a breath and leaned against the desk. "This guy is pretty crafty for an idiot."

"You have no idea. So where's Brisco, anyway?"

"He and Dixie were settling up on the house and going to order furniture at the general store. He should be back soon, I believe." He glanced at his pocket watch. He hated the darn thing, but Brisco assured him that wrist watches were definitely not something to be flashing about, especially not his Special Forces watch, a souvenir from the time he spent in the Army. They both heard footsteps on the boardwalk, and Brisco and Dixie walked into the room.

"Bowler!"

"Brisco!"

The two men embraced in the middle of the room like they hadn't seen each other in years. For some reason, their excited talk reminded Cal of Kelly again. He wondered what she was doing at that moment, but then he remembered that she wasn't even born yet. And neither was he. And that was just too much to fathom.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Louisa parked her car carefully at the curb and looked at the station house. She chewed her bottom lip, debating whether or not this was a good idea. It was her fault. If Kelly pummeled her, she would deserve every blow, and she would take it. Even though things didn't work out for them as a couple, Louisa liked Cal as a friend, and hearing that he disappeared along with Brisco broke her heart. She didn't know if they were dead or alive back in the past, until she did some digging. So, armed with this news, maybe when she told Kelly, the woman wouldn't be too upset. Gathering up her courage in a heavy sigh, Louisa got out of the car and approached the open fire truck bay. She found Kelly next to the squad, a gear box open on the running board in back, and it looked like she was doing an inventory.

"Kelly..."

"Yes?" She turned and looked at Louisa. "Can I help you?"

"Not really. I wanted to ask if I could help you."

Kelly's brows furrowed and she turned away from her work to stand with hands on hips.

"My name is Louisa. I, uh, I dated Cal a few times. He's a great guy, but, I guess it never really clicked between us that way. Anyway, he and I became really good friends despite that." She smiled slightly. "But I did a grave disservice and not only hurt him, but you, his sister. And I apologize for that."

Suddenly, the light went on and Kelly's eyes brightened with tears. With a soft voice, she said, "You're that woman... the one who helped the professor with the time machine." There weren't many who knew about it. After all was said and done, the mayor decided that it was best to keep it all under wraps instead of admitting that he was powerless to keep riffraff from the past from terrorizing their fair city.

"I'm sorry, Kelly! If I'd known what he was going to do with it, I would have stopped him. I would have, really!" She blinked. "But I didn't come here to justify myself. I came here...to try to redeem myself."

"What do you mean? My brother's gone. No one can bring him back here."

Louisa smiled. "There's where you're wrong. While Cal and Brisco were leaving our time, I went back to the lab and stole all of the professor's notes, blueprints, and completely wiped his hard drive so he'd never get his work back. I was determined that no one would ever be able to use this technology for bad again." She smirked. "But that doesn't stop me from doing something good with it."

The corner of Kelly's mouth tipped up. "You didn't..."

"My time machine awaits," Louisa spoke softly as she led Kelly to the front of the bay.

The red Ford Fiesta didn't look like much. Kelly stifled a laugh. "You're seriously going to use that thing to go back and find Cal?"

"I am."

"And how on earth will you know when and where he is? You could be searching for an eternity!"

"Nope." She smiled wide as she pulled a piece of paper out of her back pocket. "Check this out. It's a copy of the Sunset Ridge city directory from late 1893, and they printed them on a quarterly basis, if my research is correct. Before they had phone books, they had these. Look under 'R' and see what's there."

"This town must be small. The whole directory takes up two pages."

Kelly checked the 'C' first. She couldn't help herself. There it was, Brisco County Jr...and Dixie County. Her heart sank. So he really did it, he married her, but then what else could she expect. He was in his own time, with his own life back, and she couldn't expect him to wait for her because he would be dead before she was born. Dixie was the love of his life, anyway. She never had a chance. She dislodged the thought from her brain and her finger scrolled to the 'R' section. Under Reynolds, she found Bartholomew...and Callum. She sucked in a breath. Then she saw the column that listed his profession and a small laugh escaped her.

"Deputy. He's deputy sheriff of Sunset Ridge?" She smiled.

"Yeah, and Brisco apparently appointed him. It sounds like he's doing okay back there, but I'm sure he misses you terribly." Louisa swallowed. "I managed to find some other historical information at the city museum. Your brother is doing a lot of good there, Kel. I don't know how much it's affecting our time, but he and Brisco are working hard and keeping that town clean of outlaws. Because of it, Sunset Ridge has a reputation of being one of the safest towns in the area, and people are flocking there to settle."

"So his disappearance wasn't all that bad. At least for our city." Kelly handed her the directory. "But that doesn't make it easier on me." She blinked away tears. "Thank you for this information, Louisa, but until I can see my brother again...and hear it from his own lips that he wants to stay there...I will never feel good about what happened."

"I understand." Louisa smiled and reached out to touch her upper arm. "That's why I came to get you. I want to take you back there, so you can talk to him yourself."

"You...you built that machine just for me?" Kelly gaped at her.

"Not quite. I did it for Cal, because I didn't want him to languish back in time wishing he could be here. Now I'm giving him the opportunity to choose between this world and that one. So, will you go with me and convince him to come back?"

Kelly stared at the car. "I can't leave right now, Louisa. I'm in the middle of a shift, but I get off at five p.m. Come back then, and we'll stop off at my place to pick up a few things...It's okay if I bring a suitcase, just in case we wind up staying overnight or something, isn't it?"

"It'll be fine. I packed kind of light because the trunk is small, and part of the time machine is in it, so you won't be able to bring a huge suitcase or anything like that. I mean, if we bring Cal back, we'll need room for him in the back seat, right?" She grinned.

"Oh yeah." Kelly was grinning too. "I'll see you at five."

"I'll be here."

"Hey, I have an idea." She pulled a key off her keyring and handed it to Louisa. "Swing by my place and pack me a suitcase? The case is under my bed." She gave her the address.

"Sure, no problem, Kelly!" Louisa bounced on the balls of her feet, her pony tail swishing behind her head. "I'll see you at five, ready to hit the road, so to speak. This is going to be the best road trip ever!" Her face could barely contain her grin and she giggled like a little school girl as she raced to her car.

Kelly watched her get in, and she felt a rush of excitement herself. It amused her that Louisa was so eager to get Cal back, and she wondered just what kind of friends they were. Maybe there was more to it than met the eye, or time had a way of making things appear sweeter than they were. In either case, it didn't matter. In three hours' time, Kelly would see her brother Cal again, and they would be a family. If she never again saw this time, it wouldn't matter. She loved her job, but other than Cal, it was all she had. She dated, yet she could never find the man of her dreams, a man like Brisco. It was her mother's fault for instilling some standards in her daughter, but Kelly would never resent her for that. It saved her from a lot of losers. Maybe she'd get lucky and find her man in Sunset Ridge, and she'd never want to come back here again.

That was a heady thought. _Maybe I should plan for that what if. Should I say goodbye to my co-workers, my Captain? What would they think? They would think I needed a psych eval, that's what they'd think! Nobody knows about the time machine except the cops and a few select people._ She shook her head. _No, I'll keep it to myself. No sense in saying goodbye when most likely I'll be back._

Still, there was one person who needed to know what she was about to do, just in case. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed. "Lt. Borland, please."

"Borland."

"Hi, Bo, it's Kelly."

"Kel!" She could hear his delight at hearing her voice. "How are you, girl?"

"I'm doing okay. Every day gets a little better, but I still miss Cal so much."

"I know. So do I. This new guy just isn't working out as well."

She hesitated, then decided to give him the news. "I just wanted to call and say goodbye, just in case things don't work out for me. Louisa and I are taking a time machine she built back to 1893, and we're going to try to bring Cal home."

"Kel, that's risky. Very risky!"

"But I'm willing to take that risk if it brings my brother back. Bo, to tell you the truth, his loss has hit me harder than when Mom died. I can't go on without him around." She swallowed. "I need to do this."

"Well, I'll be prayin' for ya, Kel. Bring him back in one piece, okay? I need him here almost as much as you need your family."

"I will. Thanks, Bo, for backing me up on this. So if anything goes wrong, or I don't come back...at least you know what happened."

"Yeah, and we'll put a good spin on it too so nobody suspects a thing. Take care, Kel."

"You too, Bo. Thanks."

Three hours later, Louisa arrived back at the station. Kelly was so eager to go back in time, she didn't even waste five minutes dressing in her street clothes. She pulled them out of her locker, slung her purse over her shoulder, and bundled everything into her arms. After quickly wishing everyone a good weekend, she hurried out to meet Louisa. The pile of clothes wound up in the back.

"Okay, first thing, before we leave, I want to go get a pizza. Cal's favorite."

Louisa bust out in laughter. "I'm already ahead of you." She jerked her thumb toward the back seat.

When Kelly threw her things inside, she didn't notice the large cardboard box on Louisa's side. "Pepperoni?"

"With green peppers, onions, black olives, and garlic."

"Wooohee, this is going to be one heck of a pizza delivery! I hope he doesn't mind if it's cold when we get there."

Louisa winked. "I think it'll be at least lukewarm. Let's go."


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Once Dixie staked her claim, she didn't waste any time settling into the role as Mrs. Brisco County Jr. Some found it odd for him to marry the saloon singer, but she retired right after the wedding and they looked on him with even more respect because he managed to rehabilitate a sullied woman. She didn't care what people thought. It was kind of nice though, to walk down the street doing her errands and meet people's eyes, see their smiles, and hear their warm greetings. The town loved Brisco and Cal, and as an extension, her. Still, it took some time getting used to spending her days sitting at home, keeping house and just waiting for him. Sometimes he and Cal had to go chasing after a renegade, which left her alone for days at a time. She found ways to occupy herself until he returned, and then she locked the door, drew all the blinds, and ravished him with her love.

"You're certain about this, Doctor?" Dixie sat up on the exam table.

"As certain as I can ever be," he smiled at her. "Congratulations. You're going to be a mother."

Dixie smiled. She suspected it for some time when she was late with her cycle, but she'd also been feeling a little fatigued and looked pale when she caught her reflection in the mirror. Brisco noticed as well, and when she nearly fainted on the street one day as she waved to him and Bowler as they talked across the street, she knew it was time to get to the bottom of it. Just the horrified look on Brisco and Bowler's faces as her husband gathered her into his arms was enough to convince her she couldn't pussy foot around anymore.

"Brisco is going to be thrilled." She grinned. "Thanks, Doc."

"You're welcome, Dixie. I'll let you get dressed, and then you can go tell the proud papa." He laughed and left the room.

Doctor Harland Davis was a nice guy. He was a bit younger than Brisco, in his early 30s, blonde, blue-eyed and one heck of a gorgeous man. If Dixie hadn't been waiting so patiently for Brisco to return, she might have tried to strike up a relationship with him. He was terminally single and easy pickings. Despite the growth of the town, men still far outnumbered women, and the females who were around were either married, old and widowed, or too homely to attract a man. Dixie had been untouchable because of her profession, even if she was only a singer in a saloon. Nowadays, she sang at the piano in their parlor. That gave her an idea. She had to hurry home and get ready for tonight.

Brisco entered the front door, hung his hat on the hook near the mirror, and glanced at himself. Despite the trail dust, he didn't look too bad. He swiped at a little blood on his cheek. The other guy looked a lot worse. He slipped out of his boots and left them on a mat. He didn't want to make extra work for Dixie leaving a trail all over the house. Speaking of Dixie...other than the sound of the clock on the mantel, the house was quiet.

He checked the kitchen. The stove was cold and there was nothing cooking. Immediately, he felt an uncomfortable twinge in his gut. Pete Hutter was still on the loose giving Bowler a hard time, always evading him. What if he came to Sunset Ridge and kidnapped Dixie? Brisco raced up the stairs to their bedroom, afraid of what he might or might not find there. The door was closed. His hand wrapped around the brass knob and his ear went to the panel. It was quiet inside, except for some soft humming.

He dared to speak her name. "Dixie?"

"Brisco, come in sweetheart."

A smile crept across his face as he turned the knob and entered the room. He found Dixie in the same outfit she wore the first time they made love. He would never forget the black corset with wide red vertical stripes and bows, black stockings tacked up with the garters, and black pumps on her feet. She smiled at him and posed with one knee up, and as he neared the bed, she extended a leg.

"Hello there, Cowboy. Have a...hard...day?" Her foot pressed into his stomach.

"Oh, it was hard alright. But I suspect it'll get a lot harder before it's done." His grin promised her a night to remember as he pulled off her shoe and threw it aside. Then he removed the other in the same fashion, and she slipped off the bed to stand before him, pressing her body into his as she kissed him. He wrapped himself around her and took her in. Then they fell back onto the bed, and everything else was forgotten as he loved her.

She cried out in passion, it being all the sweeter knowing she had such good news to tell him. Normally she would keep her eyes closed in bask in the sensations, but she opened them and looked at the intensity in his expression as he climaxed. When it was over, he dropped down onto her, their bodies entwined.

"Ohhhh, Brisco. I never thought I could be this happy."

"Me neither," he responded with emotion and kissed her with enough passion that she knew he was ready for another round.

But first, she had to tell him.

"I'm pregnant, Brisco."

His head came up from where he bathed her neck in kisses. "What? Did I hear you correctly?"

"If you heard me say that we're going to have a baby, yes." She smiled.

Brisco's head went back and a huge groan came out of him. Just when Dixie started to think that maybe she'd miscalculated his potential reaction, he looked down at her with love in his eyes. "Oh, Dixie," his voice came out soft but gravelly. "That's the best news I've had all day."

He captured her mouth and they went for round two.

Kelly and Louisa had no idea what to expect when they rode through the vortex. Louisa kept her foot on the gas and watched the clock tick back the time, rolling in reverse the days, months, and years, and the more gas she gave it, the faster it went.

"Hurry," Kelly urged her. She joked, "The pizza's getting cold!"

They laughed, giddy with adventure and yet scared of what they might find on the other side. "Okay, we just got into 1893." Louisa let off the gas a little and watched the months. December, November, October... "Okay." She jammed on the brakes and suddenly the car dropped out of the black hole they were in. The rubber met the road, only it wasn't paved. They screamed as she narrowly missed a tree as the road curved. The car swung to a stop, and the only sound was the engine purring and their breaths coming fast and hard.

"Oh my...and to think Cal and Brisco rode through that." Kelly swiped a stray tendril from in front of her face. "Is this it? Is this Sunset Ridge?" They looked down the hill at a sleepy little town. Light still shone from the windows, but it was dim compared to what they were used to. "Are we really here?"

"Yes. But I think we better hide the car and walk into town. Don't want to create too much attention."

"You...you're right. Wow. This is so fantastic. I can't believe it!"

They found some outcroppings with a lot of scrub vegetation, and they used it to hide the car. When they could find no more camouflage, they stood back and examined their work with the aid of the waning moonlight. "Why did I have to buy a red car? What was I thinking?"

Kelly laughed. "You weren't omniscient. Don't worry about it, Lou. We'll be back in a little while, as soon as we find Cal and deliver this pizza." She giggled. "This is so freakin' crazy! Come on!"

"You know, Cal calls me Lou."

"I know." She smiled, threw an arm around her shoulder, and hurried the younger woman along.

They walked into town and found the sheriff's office, ignoring the strange looks that the few people who were out and about gave them. Kelly saw Cal through the window, and her grip on the pizza box slipped, but she caught in time. "Jeez, wouldn't that have been the worst, to go through all this trouble to deliver a pizza and then lose it in the dirt!"

Lou chuckled. "Come on, Kel, let's go surprise him."

Cal was bored. He'd already posted all the new Wanted posters out front, cleaned up the empty cells, and read the latest issue of the Brisco dime novel. If nothing else, it gave him a real good laugh. Brisco was right, the guy who wrote them had no idea what he was really like or what they did. Footsteps alerted him that someone was coming. No, two were coming. He fingered his gun in its holster. It took awhile to get used to the revolver, but over the past few months he'd gotten so it was an extension of his hand. He could take it apart and put it back together, in the dark, in less than two minutes. He tried it already that night.

"Who's there?"

"Knock, knock, pizza delivery." Kelly stuck the box through the door first and followed close behind with Louisa.

"Kel! Lou!" He screamed their names, fell out of his chair, and rushed to meet them. He tossed the pizza box onto the desk, took them both into his arms, and kissed them on the cheeks. They held onto him tightly. Kelly cried, and Lou sniffled. "What are you doing here? Did the professor build another time machine? Did he pick up Pete Hutter?" He had a million questions and they all jammed up as he sputtered.

"Calm down, Cal or I'll have to give you a sedative. If I had any to give you," Kelly laughed. "Hey, let's sit down, eat this pizza, and talk. Okay?"

"Awww, Kel, you really do love me." Cal beamed as he opened the box and examined the pizza inside. Then he flipped the lid back under the box and said, "Dig in, girls!"

As they ate, they caught each other up on what had happened since Cal and Brisco returned to the past. Finally, Cal asked Lou, "Are you sure there's no way the professor can create another time machine?"

"Unless he's got a photographic memory, or he hid copies of his work somewhere, it'll take him far too long to recreate it all. The man lives on grants and funding. He won't bother trying to resurrect this project if he knows there's no monetary gain in it."

"I would think by now he's done his own snooping on the past and found the changes," Kelly said. "Knowing you and Brisco are on duty here, I think he'd have to reconsider trying again."

"I agree." Cal took a bite of his last slice, savored it, and swallowed. "I think when you ladies get back to the future, you need to destroy that time machine and all the records."

"Well, you're coming with us, aren't you?" Kelly looked at him, unable to believe she heard what she thought she heard.

"Kel, I love you dearly, but...I feel like my place is here. I'm making a bigger impact on people's lives here than I ever did back home." He shook his head, an apologetic look on his face. "I'm sorry, I can't go back."

Kelly nodded, gritting her teeth. "There's some skirt you're chasing, isn't there. That's what this is about, Lou. He thinks he's got a piece of..."

"No!" Cal slapped the desk top and stood. "Pete Hutter is out there, Kel. The Swills, both past and future, died when that time machine brought us back here. Brisco's friend Lord Bowler has been out tracking Hutter for three months now, and he's been slipperier than a toad on a wet rock."

Kelly and Lou looked at each other. They'd never heard anything like that come out of his mouth before.

"Oh Kelly, he's been indoctrinated into the past. There's no getting him out of here now. So you have a choice: you either stay here with him, or come back with me. Personally, if I were you, I'd stay here. Family is family."

"I suppose you want to get back to yours," Kelly said with sympathy in her tone.

"Not particularly. I've never been real close to mine. I moved almost clear across the country to go to school, just so I'd have an excuse to not visit more than I had to."

"That's so sad, Lou." Kelly touched her shoulder. "Maybe you could stay here too."

"Now, what would I do here?"

"One thing I know is you'd never have trouble finding a date." Cal grinned. "Men outnumber women here by like four or five to one."

"Wow."

Kelly raised an eyebrow in skepticism. "But what kind of men are they? That's the question, Cal."

"They're not all bad. You stick around for awhile and I'll introduce ya."

"We'll see."

"Hey, where'd you ditch the new time machine?" He gnawed on the last bit of crust and stared at the box, mourning the loss of his favorite food.

"It's out on the east end outside of town. We covered it best as we could with scrub." Lou answered. "But it's red, so it still sticks out. It'll be okay tonight, but in the daylight..."

"Okay, here's the plan. We hang out here until the saloon closes at midnight, and you two come with me when I make the final rounds on the main street. As we go east, we'll get the car, drive it back into town and hide it in the barn behind the office here."

Lou nodded. "Sounds good. Let's do it!"

The plan went off without a hitch, but they didn't count on a pair of beady hazel eyes watching from the shadows. Pete Hutter gasped and his heart threatened to explode with joy when he saw the small car roll past the alley where he'd hidden himself. He stuck his head out, watched it turn left and go toward the barn. He muttered a curse under his breath. That was Wickwire's new laboratory! How was he going to get the time machine out of there? He decided to sneak around and check out the lay of the land, and maybe then he would have an idea.

"Professor? Professor, are you here?" Cal got out of the car and called.

"Just a minute, be right there!" A few moments later, an elderly man stepped out of a small stall that had been converted to an office. "Oh, Callum, my boy! How are you?"

"Just fine, Professor. Say, I'd like you to meet my sister Kelly, and...a friend...Louisa. They came from the future to take me home." He turned to the women. "Kel, Lou, this is Professor..."

"Wickwire," Kelly finished for him and gazed at the man. She came forward and shook his hand. "No wonder Brisco asked Dr. Wickwire if he knew a professor! You two could be twins! It's incredible!"

"It's very nice to meet you ladies." Wickwire smiled as he looked them up and down. He noted the bright white short sleeved blouse Cal's sister wore and the bright shiny badge. "A-are you a lawman, I mean, law woman?"

"No, I'm a paramedic." Wickwire looked confused. "I help rescue and treat people at the scene so they make it to the hospital."

"Ohhhh, yes, I remember Brisco talking about his, um, experience with modern medicine."

Kelly laughed. "I'll never forget it either."

Cal studied Wickwire's latest invention. It looked like a toaster on steroids, but he wasn't sure. "So, Prof, can you hide the time machine in here for awhile until we decide what we're going to do?"

"Oh, certainly!" He grinned and his usual buggy eyes got even bigger as he approached it and caressed its smooth surface. "It's a beauty."

Lou hid a laugh. "Not really, but it gets me from point A to point B."

Wickwire got into the driver's seat and looked at the instrument panel. He pushed a button and loud static came out of the speakers. He cried out in alarm and quickly hit it again to make it stop.

"That's the radio. You won't get anything on it, not in this time." Lou opened the passenger side door and slipped into the seat. She explained to him what everything was, while Kelly and Cal talked.

By the time they were all ready for bed, Wickwire had a good handle on what the car did, yet he also agreed that if the ladies decided to stay, they had to destroy it as soon as possible. But first, they needed to rest. The hotel was usually booked solid every night, so he slept in a stall that he made up into a nice bedroom with a comfortable cot.

"Would you two like to camp out here tonight? There's plenty of fresh hay in the stalls."

"Thank you, Professor." Kelly smiled. "We'd be delighted, wouldn't we, Lou?"

"Yeah. We need to keep an eye on this thing. Not that I don't trust you, Professor, but..."

"Oh, I understand completely! I wouldn't trust myself either." He looked embarrassed. "I mean, what I meant was, I wouldn't trust anyone if I were you. This is too dangerous a contraption to let it get into the wrong hands."

Cal glanced at his watch. "It'll be daylight in a few hours. You all better just get some shuteye. I'll go lock up the office and come out here, just to be on the safe side, I'll stay up and keep an eye on things."  
>"Cal," Kelly began to protest, but when she saw the determined look in his eyes, she knew better than to continue. "Night, Cal. Professor."<p>

"You can call me Albert, if you like, ladies." He gave them his most charming smile, but it wasn't as attractive as he would have hoped.

"Night, Al." Lou said and turned toward a pile of hay.

"Al. I like that." He grinned.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

The next morning, Cal took the women out for breakfast. As he walked down the street with them, every eye turned their way. Kelly was glad she brought a longer skirt, but it wasn't enough to keep the townspeople from staring. She paired the plain brown skirt with matching boots so no skin showed, a white peasant tunic, and a wide belt. Lou wore jeans and a long sleeved checkered shirt. The skin tight jeans were definitely a fashion mistake. At least she wore her hair in a cute updo and skipped any kind of makeup. Kelly wasn't sure she'd ever seen Lou with makeup. She had a natural beauty that could look terrific with a little help. The updo was a start.

They ate and Cal told them about the town, painting it in such romantic tones that Kelly found it hard to believe. "Cal, are you serious, that there's practically no crime here?"

"It's true, Kel. Brisco and me, we keep a tight lid on the rowdies here. The first time I saw him stop two fellas racing in the street and give them a field sobriety test, I almost fell over laughing. And I asked him where he got the idea, he said he didn't know. He'd done it before, long before he came to our era." He smiled and nibbled on a piece of sausage. "I've never worked with anybody like him, Kel. I feel like we're brothers. It's crazy."

"I'm glad for you, Cal. I know you've been without a partner for awhile, ever since Darryl got...killed...in the line of duty." Kelly glanced around and looked at the people eating their meal. They'd stopped staring. "But is this really worth staying for?"

Cal studied her. "I think it is. Kel, you should really hang around for a little while and see for yourself. It's less complicated here. Quieter. People aren't in such a hurry to get somewhere. They stop and talk on the boardwalk or in the middle of the street, and they don't have to be worried about getting mowed down. Sure, you'd miss out on a lot of technology. Hey, I smashed my phone to smithereens when the battery died, but that was because it finally hit home that I wasn't gonna see you ever again and I was upset. No, I was devastated by that." He paused and traced a pattern in the egg yolk still on his plate. Then he glanced up at her. "Kel, if you leave, I'm staying. And I'll mourn your loss all over again. But I am staying."

So the ball was in her court and she was on the fence. She stared out the window as she replied, "I'll have to think about it."

"Well, don't think too long, Kelly. I talked to Al this morning, and he and I both agree that if we don't get out of here within the next twenty four hours, we should just destroy the vehicle and stay." Lou turned her deep blue eyes on Kelly. "It's too risky to keep it around for much longer. So it's up to you."

"Does that mean you're staying too?"  
>"I haven't decided yet. I want to get out there and see what I'd be up against first. Then, maybe I will. If you don't know by midnight tonight, I'm either taking off in that thing or sending it off a cliff at full speed ala Thelma and Louise, without either one of us driving it."<p>

"Okay." She spread her hands on the table in front of her. "Cal, can you give us the grand tour? Convince us why we should stay."

The corner of his mouth tipped up. "It'll be my pleasure. But first, we should probably get back to the office for a minute. I want to make sure Brisco came in. He was expecting Lord Bowler to show up today, because we got word that Pete Hutter is sniffing around these parts again. Bowler wants him so bad, and when he catches him, Pete is gonna be sorry he messed with him."

As they walked to the office, Cal told them about Lord Bowler. A stagecoach rumbled past them heading eastward, and they watched it bounce along the roadway. "Twice a day a stage comes through here, one heading east, one heading west. Mail comes in on both of 'em. This is the general store. Sorry, no Walmarts out here, but you'll find whatever you need along this street. If not, they can make it, or order it." As they passed each store, he gave them a short narrative of what they carried.

They passed the saloon and business was in full swing inside, with card players already into their liquor and the laughter from the saloon girls trickled out into the street. Lou could barely see over the swinging door so she got up on tiptoe to peer inside.

"It's, what, nine o'clock and they're already at it?"

"No different in the 21st century, Kel. You know that."

"Yeah." She agreed soberly, thinking about an accident long ago caused by a drunk driver on a weekday, while a mother took her teenage daughter and son to school. They never made it to school that day, and their mother never made it home. She looked around, dispelling that memory with the current sights and sounds.

They crossed an alley and saw a millinery shop, a dress shop, and a newspaper office on their side of the street before they arrived at the sheriff's office. As they crossed in front of the newspaper office, someone came out of the building, a tall man in a black suit and white shirt, and he ran smack dab into Kelly. She let out a sound and stepped back to keep from toppling off the boardwalk. His hand reached out instinctively, and he grasped her wrist to keep her from falling. Her eyes were wide as she looked at him. He was tall, blonde, eyes the color of the ocean and just as bright. When he smiled an apology, she was mesmerized. She could only smile dumbly back.

"I'm sorry, Miss. I should watch where I'm going next time. I was in a hurry to get back to the office...Never mind." His smile widened. "I, uh, I've never seen you two ladies in town before. I'm Harland Davis, the town doctor."

"It's a pleasure, Harland," Kelly managed to find her voice. "You're the town doctor, huh?"

"Yeah, he already said that, Kel." Lou stepped forward and held out her hand. "My name is Louisa Allen, and this is Kelly Reynolds. She's the deputy's sister."

"Ah, Miss Kelly. Cal has mentioned you, and I have to admit you sounded quite...intriguing. He said you have some medical knowledge."

"Yes, yes I do." She'd recovered her senses and stopped gawking at him. "I'm a...I'm trained to assist doctors."

"Like a nurse?"

Kelly grinned and shrugged. "Yeah, but on a little higher level than that." She had no doubt there were a few things she could teach him about medicine.

"Well, how would you like to come and see my office? I'm actually in need of a nurse right now, and perhaps you might be able to help." He hesitated. "That is, if you're staying here in Sunset Ridge."

"I'm still considering my options," she replied with a smile.

"Then perhaps I might be able to 'sweeten the deal' as Cal likes to say." He grinned, took Kelly's hand and laid it on his arm. He led her away and shot over his shoulder. "I'll be sure to return her unharmed, Callum. I promise."

"Oh, you better, or I'll kick your butt to Denver, Doc!"

After Harland and Kelly were gone, Cal stood on the sidewalk with his hands in his pockets. Lou stood beside him looking like they were a matching set. He kicked a little dirt clod off the wood and said, "Well, guess we better go to the office and see what Brisco's got going on."

"Yeah."

"So...what do you think of our fair little town?" He smiled as he looked around, greeted people with a nod or a 'hello'.

"It's nice. Like you said, it is peaceful. I don't know what I'd do here, though."

"Maybe you could help Wickwire. I think he needs an assistant. His daughter married some guy, and she felt really guilty about leaving him alone. That's kind of how he wound up here in that old stable. When we're here, Brisco and I can help keep an eye on him, but he really needs someone to make sure he doesn't blow himself up or something."

"I understand. He's getting a little addled then. I think that's what they used to call it."

"Yeah, that's it." He approached the door and found it open, and he let Lou go ahead of him. He found Dixie and Brisco inside, locked in a most unprofessional embrace. "Hey, don't you two get enough of that at home? Jeez!"

They broke apart and Dixie grinned at him. "Sorry, Cal, just givin' Brisco another little reason to come home safe and sound."

Brisco still held her in the shelter of one arm, but he placed a hand over Dixie's stomach. "I just found out yesterday that we're going to have a baby."

Cal's mouth dropped open in half surprise, half joy, even though he knew this was supposed to happen. "That's great news! Congratulations!" He winked at Brisco. "You didn't waste any time, did you man." He knew Brisco knew what he was talking about. Their first child, Cal had discovered when he did his digging, was born in 1894. If Brisco wanted to stay on schedule, he didn't have much time to dillydally.

"Who's your friend, Cal?" Dixie turned out of Brisco's grip and approached her with a smile and a handshake. "Excuse these two cretins, I'm Dixie C...County. Brisco and I just got married recently, after he came back from the future."

"You're Dixie. Well, duh, of course you are!" Lou snickered as she took the other woman's hand. "I sure would hope Brisco didn't get together with some other woman, when it was obvious how badly he wanted to get back here to you." She shut her mouth and blushed. "Sorry, I'm Louisa. I'm part of the cause for this whole time travel mess, but I'm trying to fix it. If Cal comes back with us, maybe everything will go back to normal."

"But I ain't going back. I told you that already, Lou."

"If Kelly goes, I can't believe you'd be so selfish staying here. She loves you! She risked her life to come get you! She even brought you your favorite pizza! And you'll turn her back on her. Nice brother you are!"

"Lou, come on." Cal spoke softly, embarrassed at the attention they were getting from Brisco and Dixie. "Let's talk about this..."

"There's nothing to talk about." She took a step closer to him and balled up her fists at her side. "I'd give anything to have a guy like you for my brother. Kelly is lucky to have you. But now I'm not so sure, if you're willing to take everything she did and throw it back in her face so you can play cowboy!"

"Aw man, Lou." He backed up, and she took two steps forward.

Despite the fact that Cal had at least six inches on her, she was menacing. "I thought maybe I could try to reason with you! Try to get you to see the logic of going back! But I can see you're hopeless."

"We can talk about this."

"You're...you're a first-class jerk, Cal!" She slapped him across the face, and with tears falling, she added, pointing a finger into his chest. "I'm going back tonight, and I hope I never see your face again." She pushed past him and ran for the barn.

"Sorry you guys had to see that." He glanced at the floor, then hurried out after her. "Lou! Louisa!"

"He likes her, and he doesn't want her to go, either."

"You're very astute, Dixie."

"Well, a woman can tell these things, Brisco." She kissed him one more time, although it was much more chaste than before. "I'll see you tonight?" Her fingertips lightly feathered across his freshly shaved cheek.

Brisco captured her hand and kissed the fingers. "I'll be there."

Dixie stopped in the general store to pick up some things for supper. She found herself distracted by one of the town gossips talking about the two strange women.

"Did you see the way they dressed? That blonde must be a little hussy, looks like Dixie Cousin's sister. The other one, don't know what to make of her. But I bet within the week we'll see the one taking Dixie's place in the saloon."

"The men'll be happy."

"Ladies, if you were smart, you'd make sure they came home right after work, even if you have to go looking for them in the saloon yourselves."

Dixie couldn't take it. She stepped out from around a display and said, "No, if you're smart you'll work on loving your husbands instead of looking at them merely as the means to keep food on the table. Appreciate them and they'll appreciate you." She moved among them and glared as she let them have it. "And no, Kelly will not be entertaining men at the saloon. I don't know what she'll be doing, but I can guarantee she thinks too much of herself to do that." She got into the face of the woman who spouted off her sour statements. "And you, if you spent more time keeping yourself up, maybe your dog of a husband wouldn't go to the saloon looking for more attractive scenery. Call on me sometime, and I can help you out with that."

The woman gasped. "I think it's disgraceful that Sheriff County married you, you little whore!"

"Lady, the only man I ever had my heart set for was Brisco, and for a long time he's been the only one warming my bed. He's well worth it." She smiled brightly. "I only sang for my supper. Now I do a lot more 'cause he likes it, and so do I." With a flounce of her skirts, she turned and walked out of the store.

"Mrs. County! Mrs. County! You forgot your package!"

"Oh, silly me! Thank you, Marvin. I've been so forgetful lately. The doctor told me that sometimes happens when a woman is, um..." She smiled secretively and let her hand flit over her stomach as she turned and left the tongues to wag while she went home. They made her so mad, but leaving them in shock was a fine bit of revenge. It made her smile.

She was almost there. About a block out of town, their home stood on a piece of land next to the river. It was large enough for its own barn and small corral. At night, Comet was there. During the day Dixie's horse Caesar, a white stallion, kept his eye on the place. She looked over at the corral and was surprised to find it empty. She thought maybe he walked inside the barn. The way it was set up, he had the freedom to do so to get out of the sun.

Hoofbeats echoed on the dirt road and she looked toward the east. A man on a horse was galloping straight for her. He was riding Caesar. His black clothes stood out starkly against the horse's body, and he was a terrifying sight, especially when he looked up from his crouch with a snarl on his face and angry looking eyes.

"Pete! What are you...doing!" Dixie screamed out the last word as Pete reached down, scooped her up and set her on the horse's back. She dropped her package and purse in the road, and she tried to slip off, but he grabbed her by the collar of her dress, turned and headed back the way he came. He was cutting off her air, and she thought she would pass out and fall off the horse. The one thing she worried more about than herself was the baby. _Please don't let him hurt my baby!_

Pete rode with Dixie out to a cave, where he dropped her off the horse, dismounted, and grabbed her before she could run.

"Oh no, Dixie. I need you here right now! You're gonna help me out with a little project. I need you to make a delivery for me, and if you're a good girl, you won't go...well, let's just say you're a bad girl, 'cause I know you can be that, can't ya, Dixie dear?" He tied her hands as he spoke and sat her on a rock. He walked around her, taunting her.

"Whatever you're planning, Pete, you might as well give up. Brisco and Cal will..."

"Shut up about them! I don't care about them, I just want that time machine, and you're going to help me get it."

"How?"

"Just wait and see. Just wait and see, darlin'." He cackled, and it sounded like nails on a chalkboard. "Uh uh, don't try to untie those ropes. I did a mighty fine job on those knots if I say so myself. Well, since you're so impatient, I guess I better get to work then."

Dixie was about to say something, but Pete pressed a cloth over her face. She struggled for a brief time before losing consciousness. She slumped over, and Pete at least had the decency to ease her down gently to the ground. Then he rubbed his hands together, giggled, and got to work.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Professor Wickwire and Lou were in the lab going over the car one last time. She pulled out a shiny disc from a square transparent case, turned on that infernal static again, and slipped the disc into a slot. She turned the knob a little, and then music played. Music unlike anything he'd ever heard before. It had a beat, with instruments he couldn't identify. Lou picked them out and gave them names. He marveled at such things as electric guitars and synthesizers. He watched as she bopped in her seat to the music, a smile on her face.

"Do you dance to this?"

"Oh yeah." She answered and slipped out of her seat. "Watch me, and learn." She laughed and got into the beat, moving her feet in a close area and using her entire body, she gyrated and moved in such a way that he'd never seen Dixie Cousins dance. "Come on, Al! Get into it! Gotta love Madonna! Hey, it's old music, but it's..." She suddenly stopped when she saw they had a visitor. Lou tugged on her shirt, swallowed, and quickly retreated to turn off the music and cover the car with a tarp.

"Socrates! What on earth are you doing here? Welcome! Welcome!" Wickwire came forward and shook his hand.

"Thank you, Professor. It's nice to see you again." He couldn't stop looking at the large object that the woman covered.

"Would you like some tea?"

"That would be lovely. Thank you." As Wickwire readied the tea, Lou stood in front of the car, as if her petite body could hide it. "Miss, what is that you're hiding back there?"

"That? Oh, it's nothing. It's, um, a new invention. Hush hush, can't tell anybody, you know." She made a motion as if she were zipping her lips shut, locking them, and throwing away the key.

"Uh huh." He grinned and introduced himself. "I'm Socrates Poole, a friend of the Professor and the Counties, Brisco and Dixie."

Lou could see that those two names together brought him great happiness. She smiled back at him and replied, "I'm Louisa Allen. My friend Cal is the deputy, and his sister Kelly, well, she's not around right now. I'm sure she'll turn up later."

"Have you seen Brisco? He and Cal aren't in the office."

She shook her head. "No, Al and I have been just puttering around here in the lab."

"Louisa?"

Socrates turned and grinned as he prepared to greet Dixie. But then he saw her and stopped. "My god, what...what is that, Dixie?"

"Oh no! Did Pete do that to you?" Lou moved past Socrates and stared at the bundle of C4 and wires attached to Dixie's stomach.

"Yes." Dixie had never been so scared in her life. "You have to give him the time machine, or...or he said this thing would blow up!"

"How? How could it blow up? Is it on a timer," Socrates asked as he took a step forward.

"No! Don't get any closer! He said if someone got within two steps of me, he'd make it go off."

"Oh brother, he's got it on a remote, which means he's somewhere around here."

"A...a remote?"

"Yeah." Lou looked around. "Ah, I know just what to do." She turned and ran for the door at the back of the barn. "Everybody just stay cool, I'll be back!"

"Louisa! Where are..." Wickwire sighed deeply. "While we wait, anybody like some tea?"

Lou snuck around the back of the barn and looked toward the outskirts of town. That was too far for a detonator to work. He had to be closer. She rushed around to the side of the barn away from the jail, and that was where she saw Pete Hutter. He had his back to her, and his head was around the corner. She quietly ran for him and tackled him around the waist, using one hand to knock the detonator out of his grasp as they went down. The air rushed out of him as he kicked, yelled and tried to roll away.

"Uh uh, Pete. You're done." Lou was glad for the self-defense classes she'd taken as she used one forearm across his neck and pressed him to the ground. She lay atop him, pinning him down despite her slight frame. She reached for the holster and pulled out his gun, then aimed it at the underside of his chin. "You move, you die. Your choice, punk." She felt a little Eastwood coming on, but she reined it in.

"Y-you're touchin' mah piece. Nobody touches mah piece."

"You're lucky I don't touch something else, scumbag."

He tried to struggle, and she gave him a sample of what she was talking about. The air rushed out of his lungs and he had the urge to curl up, but she prevented him from moving.

"Lou! Get off him!"  
>She looked up at Cal coming towards her with Brisco heading for the barn to rescue Dixie from the bomb. Suddenly, her eyes widened. "Cal! Don't let Brisco touch that bomb!" She forgot about Pete and jumped up, and sprinted around to the barn doors. He was about to lay his hand on one of the wires, when she screamed, "Stop, Brisco! Don't touch it!"<p>

"Why not? You got the detonator away from Pete, didn't you?" Wickwire asked as he and Socrates approached their group.

"Yes, I did. But he could have booby trapped this thing in case things didn't work out like he planned. Just come over here, Dixie, and sit down. I have to look at this thing and figure out what we're gonna do."

"I thought you were a physicist, not a chemist," Wickwire said.

"I dated a guy on the bomb squad at the Eastman PD. Hey, what can I say? I love a guy in law enforcement," she replied and glanced around, wondering if Cal heard her. "Anyway..." She quickly looked over the configuration. "I'm not sure. Wait a second, here we go." She pulled a wire that ran around Dixie's waist, and it came off in her hands. Then she untied the ropes that held it in place. "Okay, that was too easy. Now we've gotta get rid of this thing, just in case he's got it on another switch or something."

They heard gunshots around the side of the building. In all the time Lou spent working on the bomb, no one paid attention to Pete or Cal. Suddenly, Pete came running into the lab with his and Cal's gun. He fired at them and they scattered for cover. Then they heard the car start up.

"He's stealing the time machine!" Lou got out from behind a bale of hay, still carrying the bomb. She ran across the barn opening as Pete put the car in reverse and gunned the engine. The tarp slipped off as it moved. He nearly clipped Lou, but she got out of the way in time. She growled at him and threw the bomb through the air. It landed on the hood, in the space where the wiper blades rested. Pete looked at her and laughed, put the car in drive, and turned it around in the barnyard.

Lou saw the detonator lying in the grass nearby. Her hand dipped as she ran past, picked it up, and hit the red button just as the car entered the street. The bomb was packed with enough C4 to take out the car, create a six foot deep crater in the street, and do some major damage to the brick structure of the sheriff's office. At the concussion, everyone in town ducked for cover. Windows within a one block radius shattered. Dogs howled in the aftermath. The blast knocked Lou off her feet and threw her hard into the ground, taking away her breath for a few moments.

No one said anything while the smoke cleared, afraid that once again Pete would get away. But when they saw the deep hole, and went closer to inspect the smoldering ruins of the time machine sitting in the bottom, they also saw was what looked like a charred arm sticking out of the wreckage.

"Well, looks like ole Pete has pulled his last job," Lou declared as she tossed the detonator into the hole. She turned and noted Wickwire standing nearby, his jaw slack as he surveyed the damage. Socrates was white as a ghost.

"My god, not even the explosion at the Westerfield Club was this...enormous."

Lou replied smugly. "Where I come from, we call it ginormous." She glanced around. "Hey, where are Brisco and Dixie? And Cal?" She saw Kelly and the doctor coming down the street, checking on people as they approached. Everyone was fine.

"Where's Cal?"

"I don't know, Kelly. He was...oh...oh no!" She ran for the barn and around the side where she last heard Cal's voice. Brisco and Dixie were already there. Dixie held his head in her lap, and Brisco pressed his bandana into the gunshot in Cal's gut. It was obvious that the bandana was useless in stopping the flow.

"Cal!"  
>Brisco looked up at her with sorrow in his eyes. "Pete shot him."<p>

"It's my fault. I shouldn't have left him and Cal alone!"

"It's not your fault." Brisco locked eyes with her. "You did what you thought was right, saving Dixie from a possible booby trap."

"Brisco, let Harland and me in here," Kelly said in a tone he remembered from when he found himself a victim of the coming thing.

He nodded and stood, and went to stand beside Dixie. Lou took her place at Cal's head, stroking his hair and whispering to him, apologizing for her act of recklessness. But Cal was unconscious, he couldn't hear her.

"Brisco! What in tarnation happened here?" Bowler skirted around the smoking hole in the street and came back to the group at the barn.

"Pete Hutter got blown up trying to escape. It's a long story, Bowler, and I'll tell you later. Right now, we're concerned about Cal."

When Harland and Kelly were ready to move Cal, Brisco and Bowler carefully placed him on a patchwork quilt. He and Bowler each took a corner, Harland took a third, and Lou took the fourth.

"Lou, let Socrates take it," Brisco urged her softly.

"NO! It's my fault this happened. The least I can do is help carry him." She was so distraught, no one could dissuade her, and they didn't have time to argue.

"Okay, let's take him up the street to my house."

The hours went by slowly as Brisco, Dixie, Bowler, Socrates, Wickwire, and Lou took up Doc Davis's parlor. Eventually, Brisco had to go back to work, and Bowler followed. He was angry that his bounty went up in smoke, but he understood the need to destroy Pete. After hearing the tale of the time machine and what it had wrought, he was glad. Things could have been a whole lot worse.

Night fell, and there was still no word on Cal. Dixie came to get Brisco. "Sorry, Dix. Someone's gotta stay here. With the windows blown out and this, um, little hole in the wall," he jerked a thumb at the three foot diameter gap, "nothing will prevent anyone from coming in and stealing the guns in the cabinet. I'll have to stay here."

"No, Brisco. You go on home," Bowler said softly, in a tender voice that was so rare coming from the man. "You all get your rest. It's been a far too long day."

"Thanks, Bowler. Are you sure?"

"Yeah, go on. If I get any word I'll send someone to pass it along."

Brisco nodded. "I'll see you in the morning."


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

"Brisco, how are you this morning?"

Brisco dismounted from Comet and tied him to the hitching post in front of the doctor's house. "I'm fine, Doc. How's Cal doing?"

"He's holding his own." Harland shook his head slowly, his voice full of awe. "Brisco, that Kelly, she is...simply amazing. The things she knows! I thought we were going to lose Cal due to blood loss after we got the bullet out and stopped the bleeding, but she jury-rigged this thing she called an IV. Wickwire put together a solution from the chemicals she asked him to combine." He paused, still stunned by everything he'd seen the day before. "Then she discovered that Lou has an O negative blood type. I'd never heard of such a thing! So she took a pint of Lou's blood...and she gave it to Cal intravenously. It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen."

"Kelly is quite something, isn't she." He smiled.

"Thanks to her, Cal seems much improved over last night, but I think Kelly is thinking that he needs another transfusion. She said that Lou shouldn't give more than one pint in a two week period."

"So what are you going to do?"

Harland smiled at him. "Kelly said you're O negative."

"How does she know that?" Not even Brisco was aware of that piece of information.

"I guess when you were on the way to the hospital she 'typed' you, as she called it. So...would you be willing to give up a pint for a friend?"

"Of course!"

"Great. Come on in, and we'll do it right now."

Brisco emerged a half hour later with a bandage in the crook of his arm, some soreness, but a great feeling inside. He was finally able to pay his friend back for taking him under his wing in the future. He stepped out on the porch and sighed as he watched the sun come up over the trees. It was going to be a great day, because Cal was improving. Barring an infection, which the doc was trying to prevent with some powerful herbal remedies he got from an Indian, Cal could be up and around in a few weeks, back to himself. He had no doubt that with Lou by his side, he would make a quick recovery.

He untied Comet from the post and walked the short distance to the sheriff's office. Ahead he saw the crater on the side of the street. Someone had erected barriers to keep people from falling in by accident in the dark. _Wonder if we should just haul in a ton or two of dirt, fill it up, and give Pete a poor man's burial. _As he got closer, he noticed Bowler sitting with Socrates in the chairs outside the door, drinking coffee.

"Morning, Bowler, Soc."

"Brisco." Bowler sounded cranky.

He tied Comet to the post. Brisco would have taken him to the stable, but somehow he had the feeling he would need his trusty mount soon. He approached them, put one foot up on the porch, grasped his gun belt and asked, "Is anyone going to tell me why you two look so down in the mouth?"

"I'll give you two words," Bowler replied with narrowed eyes. "Pete Hutter."

"Pete's dead. What about him?"

"He ain't dead. I looked into that hole this morning, and you know that arm we all thought we saw?"

"Yes."

"It wasn't an arm. I got no idea what it was, but it ain't him. Somehow he got away before that time machine blew up!"

Brisco's shoulders slumped and he rested a hand on his bent knee. "You going after him?"

"You bet I am. After this, I'm sure his price jumped up a good five hundred dollars."

"I bet by the time you catch him, you'll be a millionaire with the reward he'll have on his head," Socrates said.

"Good! Then I can pay to replace all that crystal you busted at my house!"

"Now Bowler, that was an accident. You should have had insurance to cover it," Socrates protested and leaned away from Bowler. He picked up his chair with his body still in it and hopped away a few feet while Bowler glared at him.

"Hey, hey, fellas. Let's try to focus here, shall we?"

They both turned and looked at him strangely.

Brisco smiled. "Sorry, that's something Cal liked to say back...oh dear. Soc, you don't know about what happened to me awhile back, do you?"

"No. We've been out of touch for months, and I tried writing you, but I never got a response. I finally had to come see for myself that you were alright. That's why I'm here." He paused and let out a breath. "I show up and find myself in the middle of crazy talk about time machines and bombs, and..."

"I know, it's all quite confusing. Why don't we get some coffee and I'll tell you what happened."

"I'd like to know too, because you gave me the short version yesterday," Bowler said, his anger towards Socrates diffused.

"Okay. Follow me." They went inside and for the next two hours, Brisco related everything that happened to him and how all these strangers from the future wound up in Sunset Ridge in September of 1893.

"So you were gone six months. No wonder I never heard anything!"

"Dixie had no idea where I was, or she could have told you." He looked down into his empty cup. "I'm sorry, Soc."

"It wasn't your fault, Brisco. It sounds like you were lucky to survive the ordeal and make it back here. Do you think it's possible for Pete Hutter to go back? Or...ahead...or whatever?"

"No. The time machine was destroyed, and the plans and everything were in the trunk. He had no time to get them out and escape, so he's stuck here along with my friends from the future."

"I feel sorry for them."

"Me too, Soc, but Cal's adapted well. I think they all will, in time."

Bowler grinned. "I don't think anybody has to worry about Miss Kelly. She and the doc are already sweet on each other. I could tell."

"But Kelly is nothing if not professional when she's on the job," Brisco countered. "With her brother's life at stake, she'll be even more so until the crisis has passed."

"When things settle down, I bet we're gonna see another wedding." Bowler drained the last of his coffee and stood with a heavy sigh. "I better start looking for Pete's trail. I'll send a telegram when I find him, although I can't guarantee he won't come in dead for real this time. He's got me riled up, and if I catch him, no mercy."

"Be careful, Bowler. He's a wily one."

"I know that, Brisco. You be careful and don't go ridin' off after any strange vehicles no more!"

Brisco laughed and patted Bowler's shoulder as they walked toward the exit. "Good luck."

"You too, Brisco. Take care of Miss Dixie and that baby." He laughed. "Daddy." Bowler mounted his horse, touched his hat, and rode west. If Pete escaped from the vehicle just before it exploded, that was the only logical direction he could have taken, because the explosion would have better masked his flight. Bowler lowered his head and studied the tracks leading into town. He must have spied something, because Brisco watched as he nodded slowly, grinned, and straightened in the saddle. Then he took off at a slow walk following the signs Pete left behind.

"Well...I'd love to sit and chat, Soc, but...I need to find someone who can do masonry work to fix this wall. And a glazier to fix the windows. We need things to get back to normal around here."

"I think I'll stick around town for a few days, just see what you've gotten yourself into here, Brisco." Socrates grinned. "I'll start with breakfast. Can I get you anything?"

For a moment, Brisco thought about the drive thru meals that he and Cal snagged on occasion. His stomach turned at the thought. "No thanks, Soc. Dixie made breakfast for me this morning."

Socrates looked at him with amusement dancing in his eyes. "I never would have thought of Dixie as a homemaker."

"She's actually not bad at it. Her cooking's pretty good. But there are some things she does better than others." He turned from the coffee pot with a sly look on his face.

"Say no more! I'll see you later, Brisco."

"See you later, Soc."

Socrates entered the restaurant and found that they were quite busy. He would have to wait for a table, but then he saw her. The woman from the future sat by herself looking at a menu. Her eyes roved up over it and he saw a sign of recognition in them. She dropped the menu on the table and motioned him to come join her. He grinned, nodded, and removed his hat as he passed through the restaurant to the back where she sat.

"Good morning, Socrates!"

He was a bit surprised by her forthrightness, calling him by his first name after they only just met. "Good morning, Miss, um, Louann."

"It's Louisa" She smiled sweetly at him. "Are you here for breakfast?"

"Yes, yes I am, Louisa. But they're quite busy this morning."

"That's alright, you can sit with me."

"Thank you very much." He grinned and placed his hat on the chair to his left. "I'm sorry about the mixup. With all the confusion yesterday..." He shook his head briskly. "I'm sorry, that's no excuse. I'm usually quite good at remembering names."

Lou laughed. "Well, for all my ability to remember theories and formulas and such, I suck at remembering names. So I guess we're even, huh? I just happened to remember yours because it's so...unique. Socrates. I mean, your parents must have been quite interesting, learned people."

"Not really. They were poor and uneducated, but they knew the value of knowledge. So they worked hard to get Iphigenia and me into good schools."

"Iphigenia. Seriously, that's your sister's name?"

"Yes, it is."

"Oookay." Lou restrained herself from laughing. "So are you a friend of Brisco's?"

"Yes, I am." He leaned closer to her and spoke softly. "He told Bowler and me what happened and how you all wound up here. I hope that, if there's anything I can do to assist, you will let me know."

"Thank you, Socrates. That's very nice of you." She picked up her menu again, and when the waiter arrived they both ordered.

They spent the entire time together talking about their backgrounds and education, and Lou was quite impressed with his knowledge. She could easily have found herself attracted to him, but two things stood in her way: Cal and Socrates' age. A lady didn't ask about those things in this time, but from the faint lines on his face, she suspected that he had to be at least a decade older than herself. Given that women outlived men to begin with, and this being a time with fewer medical resources to keep people healthy and alive, she had to think about things like that if she expected to spend the rest of her life with someone in the past.

_Lou, stop being so practical all the time! Just relax and enjoy the man's company, for crying out loud!_

Socrates laughed at something Lou said and picked up the bill when the waiter placed it on the table. "Oh, Louisa, I have so enjoyed our time together. Please, allow me to take care of this. I can't imagine that you have much usable cash on you, with, you know..."

Lou waved her hand. "The doctor gave me some money. He said I needed to get a good hearty breakfast in me after giving blood. And I'm supposed to take it easy for awhile."

"Well, then perhaps you and I could spend more time together. I told Brisco I wanted to stay for a few days to see what this town is like."

"Considering hanging your shingle somewhere besides San Francisco, counselor?"

"Perhaps, if I find the right place, and there's incentive to stay." She stood, and he popped up out of his seat to stand beside her. The smile on his face quickly turned to a frown. "Louisa?"

"Oh, woah." She suddenly felt lightheaded and her knees buckled. Socrates put his arms around her and kept her upright. She appreciated that he had a strong grip on her. "I guess the doc was right. I should probably go back to his house and lay down for awhile." She smiled weakly. "To tell the truth, this is why I never give blood on a regular basis. It sometimes makes me woozy."

"It's quite alright. I'll help you get back to the doctor's place."

"You are a sweet man, Socrates. I don't know why no woman has snatched you up yet."

He grinned and ducked his head, his cheeks blushing slightly. It was cute...and endearing. She didn't need that to tug at her heartstrings and make things even more confusing! Now she didn't know what she wanted to do. Her main desire was to spend time at Cal's bedside, talking to him, encouraging him even in his state of unconsciousness to get better. But she also wouldn't mind spending more time with Socrates Poole. He was intriguing, in a geeky sort of way. Lou was torn. In her time, she couldn't pay someone to date her without expecting something in return. Here, she had one man who just wanted to spend time with her in exchange for a paid breakfast. It was quite refreshing!

By the time Socrates got Lou to the doctor's house, she was definitely in need of some rest, and Kelly insisted, more fluids. She took a short nap on the bed. When she awoke, she hoped to find Socrates hanging around, but he apparently went to see Dixie and check out the town. So she spent her day sitting beside Cal, talking to him, begging him to heal. She held his hand in her two hands. While she was never much for church and stuff, when the preacher came by with his daughter Sarah to pray at his bedside, she felt the urge to get down on her knees with them and add strength to their numbers.

Before the week was out, Cal was awake and healing faster every day. Lou divided her time between entertaining Socrates and taking a turn sitting with Cal. She wasn't sure if she was doing it out of guilt or because of her feelings toward him. As she spent more time with Socrates, she felt a pull towards him. But yet, her heart had always been with Cal. As she felt it slowly turning away, she heaped more guilt upon herself. She owed him everything, because she ruined his and Kelly's lives. If it weren't for her helping the professor to begin with, he would still be in the future with Kelly, and she would be plodding away with school and research. When she really thought about it, all that sounded quite boring.

She sat on the porch at Brisco and Dixie's, watching the sun go down. When Cal was well enough to move, the couple invited him to stay with them until he could find a more permanent place. The sheriff's office was still under reconstruction, so it wasn't a suitable place for him to bunk. Under Socrates' advice, Lou decided to work with Wickwire part time, but spend her days as the school teacher. The town was growing quickly and they needed one, because the previous spinster married a settler and quit. She was supposed to start tomorrow, so she contemplated her new career, her feelings, and so many other things that rumbled around in her head.

"Penny for your thoughts."

"Oh, Brisco! You're getting home late."

"Yeah. I got a telegram from Bowler. He's hot on Pete's trail...again."

"Sometimes, you gotta wonder if he's even worth chasing. But then when I think of everything he was involved in, I know he's got to be stopped."

Brisco leaned against the pillar at the top of the steps. "I hear your first day of school is tomorrow." He smiled. "Excited?"

She picked at some lint on the long skirt she adopted as part of her new wardrobe. "I don't know. Maybe more terrified. I've never taught kids before. I don't know if I can do it. Oh, why did I say yes? What was I getting myself into?" She leaned forward, put her elbows on her knees, and held her head in her hands. "Brisco, those kids are gonna eat me alive! I just know it!"

"No they won't. Lou, they're just kids. Think about what it was like when you were that age in school. Draw on that, and make it interesting for them. One of the best teachers I ever had growing up was different like that. She made us see how what we were learning was relevant to our lives. If you do that, you'll get their attention." He took a step toward the door and patted her arm. "You'll do just fine. You're a sweet, bright girl, Lou. We love you. They will too." Then he entered the house. Not long after, she heard Dixie calling her to supper.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

Socrates liked Sunset Ridge and all it had to offer. It was certainly a slower pace of life than he was used to in San Francisco. The growing town needed lawyers; not necessarily for law breakers, but for lawsuits, real estate transactions, and such. He was tired of working for the barons at the Westerfield Club. But there were other reasons to stay. Lou was one of them. The more time he spent with her, the more he liked her. No, he had to admit that he was falling in love. But he knew she had feelings for Cal, and as the deputy recovered from his injury, their relationship seemed to grow tighter. He was in a quandary. He had to decide how much Louisa was worth to him, whether he should fight for her or let things take their course. He was a lawyer. He was used to battling out in court, but when it came to the field of love, he was at a complete loss.

Winter was coming, and the mountains were covered with snow at their peaks. The air had a chill to it as Lou walked to the schoolhouse. As a teacher, part of the perks of the job included free room and board. With everything working out so well at Brisco and Dixie's, they continued the arrangement. She lived with them, worked at her job, and when the baby came, she would help with other tasks around the house. Professor Wickwire decided to move to where his daughter lived. She would miss the times they spent discussing science and the future, the coming thing, as Brisco liked to call it. Brisco himself had given up on finding that elusive thing, because with a wife, a child on the way, and work that he loved, he had no time to search for it. Little did he realize that the coming thing he was looking for was actually what he finally attained.

Lou walked past the new storefronts on her way to the schoolhouse. They were going up fast, and one building was already complete. The one on the corner was almost finished, and a painter prepared to dress the window with the mercantile's name. Next door, she saw a sign that made her stop in her tracks. Over the door hung a wooden hand painted placard that read, "Law Office of Socrates Poole, Esq." He never said a word about settling in Sunset Ridge, at least not for sure. The last time they spoke was a couple of weeks previously, just before he left for San Francisco. She really thought that was the last she would see of him, and so she and Cal started spending more time together.

When they did, it felt as if she were cheating on Socrates. But he never stated his intentions to her, so why should she be concerned? She was about to pass on her way, but she heard footsteps coming down the stairs on the side of the building, and Socrates rounded the corner, nearly colliding with her.

"Oh, Louisa!" He smiled broadly at her. "It's so good to see you!" He hugged her, and she grasped her books in one arm and hugged him with the other. He was warm, and she detected the faint scent of shaving soap and some fancy cologne. He smelled great. But she didn't have much time to ponder the scents, as he pulled back to get an eyeful of her. "You look terrific."

"Thank you." She decided to experiment with the fashions of the times, wearing long skirts, but the kind that could be worn for horseback riding that were split so they were more like very wide pants. Her hair she wore up in curls like Dixie used to wear. She wasn't sure she cared for the effect, but he seemed to enjoy it, if the look on his face was any indication. "Socrates! I thought, when you left for San Francisco, that you weren't coming back…except to visit, maybe."

"Why would you think that? I love it here."

"I know. But you never even said goodbye." Her eyes averted to the painted sign in the window.

"Do you like it?"

She turned back to him with a sparkle in her eyes. "Yes, it's very nice."

He kept her hand in his as he spoke. "Louisa, I'm sorry I didn't say goodbye. I thought it was unnecessary, since I would be back." He sighed. "I anticipated that I would return a lot sooner, but there were…issues…to take care of with my previous employers. Loose ends to tie up, so to speak."

"Ah, I understand." She smiled. "Well, I really would love to stand here and talk, but I have to get to the school and get ready for the children to arrive."

"Would you please accompany me to dinner tonight?" His eyes were bright with hope as he stood before her waiting patiently for an answer.

His strawberry blonde hair looked red in the early morning sun. It was thinning, but what remained made him look youthful in the early light. "I wouldn't miss it for the world, Socrates."

Her smile lit up his world, and all day he walked on a cloud as he set up his office and prepared to open for business.

Unfortunately, Cal saw them from across the street as he stopped in front of the sheriff's office. Even if the words hadn't drifted over to him, just from their body language he could tell that his chances with Lou were slipping away at an alarming rate. He had to do something, or lose her forever.

Brisco was already in the office when he arrived, and he stood at the stove waiting for it to start warming the room.

"Hey Brisco."

Brisco could tell by the look on his friend's face and the tone of his voice that there was trouble brewing. "Cal. Is something wrong?"

"Have you ever been in love with someone and they didn't love you?"

"No, sorry, I can't say that I have. Although, there was this girl in college…no, bad example." Brisco threw some more wood into the barrel of the pot-bellied stove. "It's times like this that I wished I'd settled farther south."

Cal was lost in his own dilemma and didn't hear what Brisco said. He perched himself on his chair, leaned back, and sat wrapped up in his coat, his arms crossed in front of himself. He rocked back and forth, the springs in the chair squeaking with the effort.

"This has to do with Lou and Soc, doesn't it."

Cal let out a labored breath. "BC, I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm crazy about her! I don't even know why, but I am. I just saw her out there with Socrates, and by the look on his face, he was pretty excited about whatever she had to say." He paused and locked gazes with Brisco. "It ticked me off. I didn't like it one bit."

"This probably isn't what you want to hear, but I'll say it anyway. Maybe you need to figure out what it is that attracts you to her. Then determine if it's worth fighting for, and if so, well, fight fire with fire. Win her heart."

"But Socrates is your friend, BC! It's like a conflict of interest for you to be giving me advice, isn't it?"

"You're my friend too, Cal. And no, I don't feel that it is. Apparently, Socrates knows what he wants, but you, my friend, are unsure. Get it worked out first before you start stepping into this. It'll be best for every one of you."

Cal sighed and dropped his head in his hands as he set his elbows on the desk top. "You're right, BC. I've been too worried about losing something that maybe shouldn't even be mine to begin with."

The morning was quiet, so Cal spent the time with a list of two columns on a sheet of paper. One was labeled Pros, and the other Cons. It stayed blank through most of the morning, because he just couldn't focus. All he could see was her face smiling like a ray of sunshine had kissed it as she looked up at his competition. After awhile, he had to get up and do something, anything, or he would go nuts.

"You know, BC, sometimes I wish we'd have a good old fashioned bank robbery or something to keep us busy, at least for a little while. Maybe a hostage situation. I need to brush up on my sniper skills, you know?"

"Cal, why don't you go do the morning rounds? I'll stay here."

"Yeah. Sure." He left his empty list on his desk, picked up his hat, and slipped it onto his head as he walked out the door.

The sun warmed him as he stepped into the street and walked to the other side. He decided to check out Socrates' new storefront and see what he had cooking, whether it was a case or a romance with Lou. Deep down he knew it was probably a bad idea, but he couldn't help himself. At the last minute, he thought of turning back. But he wouldn't chicken out. He would confront Socrates and tell him to stay away from his girl. He saw her first. He dated her first...well, not really, considering they went out in the twenty first century. But that was beside the point.

He put his hand on the door knob and turned it, but the door was locked. He gazed through the window and noticed that the small space held two desks, several file cabinets at the back, and comfortable chairs placed around a table in a small glassed in cubicle. Socrates was nowhere to be seen.

_Just as well. I'll talk to him after I've had a chance to talk to Lou. If she cares one tiny bit for me, then I'll let him know he's got some competition. Otherwise, if she tells me to get lost, I'll bow out gracefully. _

He turned left and headed toward the schoolhouse. From half a block away, he heard sounds of laughter and screeches. He passed the corner of the last half-built establishment and saw a group of about fifteen kids of varying ages. The youngest couldn't have been more than six or seven, and the oldest was a boy in his teens. He couldn't believe his eyes when he saw that Lou had them playing kickball. The kids were having a great time, and he couldn't help but smile as he watched. Lou was pitching the big red rubber ball to a little girl, and as she released it, she looked up at him. Her smile melted him like a popsicle on a hot summer day, even though it was late fall and chilly.

Cal had to pry himself away from where he stood and finish his job. It wasn't very often that a woman distracted him from his work, but Louisa Allen could do that to him. He waved the next time she looked up at him, and she waved back. Then he turned away and walked back into town. He chatted with storekeepers who came out to catch some sunlight and a smoke, made sure the drunks stayed in the saloon instead of congregating on the sidewalk bothering the women who came into town to shop, and generally passed the time. He was restless, and Cal was pretty sure it didn't just have to do with Lou. He had a feeling that something was going to happen soon.

When he passed Hart's General Store, Sara came out with a broom. She looked up at him shyly and smiled sweetly. "Hi, Cal." Her voice was so soft, he almost didn't hear it.

"Mornin', Miss Sara," he said like he'd said it so many other times as he tipped his hat. She seemed to like it when he added the 'Miss' part. Other men in town addressed her as Sara, and her father didn't like that. Those same men usually were either fresh from the trail or the saloon, and neither of those places sat well with Reverend Leroy Hart, or his wife Veronica. Sara was their only daughter and they treated her like a precious jewel. Not just any man would do for her. Cal thought she was cute, well-mannered, and overall sweet, but his chances with Lou were a far sight better than with Sara.

"Cal, would you like to come in and get some sarsaparilla barrels? We got a fresh shipment in yesterday."

"I'd love some, Sara. Can you put together a small bag of them, say, oh, a half a pound?"

She grinned. "Certainly, Cal!" She turned on a dime and hurried into the store. He followed her inside and browsed some of the displays. The Harts had a knack for business and used some of the strategies that were commonplace in stores in his time to sell their wares. With a new mercantile soon to open, they had to be cutting edge. The windows held elaborate displays. Some of the food items had free samples. That's how he got hooked on the sarsaparilla barrels. They were just sitting there one day, he took one, and he loved them instantly.

"Here you go, Cal. That's five cents."

He handed her a nickel, and her fingers brushed his for just a second longer than necessary as she continued to smile at him. He took the bag from her other hand and stuffed it into his pocket.

"Oh, I almost forgot! When you get back to the sheriff's office, could you tell Sheriff County that his wife's order is here? He can pick it up any time." As soon as the words were off her lips, they curved into a demure smile again.

How that smile stirred up things in him! "I"ll do that." He tilted his hat back on his head, until he saw Rev. Hart watching them from the stockroom. Then he quickly pulled it off and held onto it as he continued to walk around the store. "Anything new in stock, Miss Sara?" Since she seemed to be so friendly today, he decided to take advantage of it. He didn't have a chance with her, but to just have a taste of her time was enough to get him over the hump of emotions he held bottled up for Lou.

"Not really. We had a lot of people's orders come in. With Christmas only a couple months away, people plan ahead. You never know what will get through the mountains before the snows get bad."

"Funny, I never thought about that." In the future, they had big plows to clear the well paved roads through the mountains, so Eastman never had any problems with getting supplies and merchandise of all kinds. They had normal stores like everywhere else in the country, and they were always well stocked.

"I suppose if you came from the lower part of the state, you wouldn't know, would you."

Despite the fact that they'd had a car/time machine blow up in the street, most citizens of Sunset Ridge had no idea that people from the future walked among them. They created backgrounds for themselves that were mostly true, just shifted to a different time. Sara was just as much in the dark as everyone else, and although he hated being dishonest with her, Cal knew it was for the best that she never know the truth.

"You're right." He sighed and put his hat back on his head as he slowly meandered toward the door. "I, uh, better get back to my rounds. You have yourself a beautiful day, Miss Sara. Reverend!" Cal waved toward the stockroom, where he saw the man's shadow on the door.

He walked down to Brisco and Dixie's and grabbed a basket full of lunch for him and Brisco. Then he turned back into town. He noted that Sara had gone back to sweeping outside just about the time he came within sight of the store. It made him smile. She was sweet on him, there was no doubt about it. He liked her too, but until her father became more approachable to even ask her for a date through him, there was no way they would have anything but stolen glances and barely touching fingers. Between her and Lou, he wasn't sure which one of them would drive him crazy first.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

Cal was down to his second stop at the saloon when he heard a piercing scream. Before he turned toward the general store, he knew it was Sara. The horrible sound was drowned out by hoofbeats. A gang of a dozen horsemen raced down the street, and one of them rode close to the boardwalk and scooped up Sara from right in front of the store. He threw her over the horse's back like a sack of potatoes, and they ran out of town at full speed.

"Stop, or I'll shoot!" Cal dropped the basket and pulled his revolver from its holster. They were already halfway down the street and ignored his warning. He got in a few shots, but they were gone before anyone could do anything. As Cal sprinted to the office, Brisco jumped on Comet and raced after them as they headed west on the road to the next town.

Cal opened the corral and mounted a spirited black stallion that he'd named Magnum. As soon as Cal leaped into the saddle, Magnum took off like a bullet out of a gun, following the trail left behind by the gang. He recognized one of the men from the wanted posters. If they were all truly together, then he and Brisco were dealing with the Muldoon gang. They usually struck under cover of darkness, so for them to kidnap a woman in broad daylight was exceptionally bold and desperate, which meant that they were probably even more dangerous than their poster indicated.

He saw Brisco up ahead and a large cloud of dust another quarter mile in front of Brisco. Magnum was not only built for speed, but endurance as well. Cal had no doubt he could catch up to them. But then it would be twelve to their two. The best thing they could do was to follow them to wherever they set up camp, then plan a strategy.

Comet was also built for long rides, so when he and Magnum caught up to Brisco, the two of them kept a little distance between themselves and the gang. "Let's make them think that we can't keep up," Brisco said. "Then, when they calculate that they're far enough ahead to rest, we'll hope they're in a position where we can flank them." He glanced at Cal. "You wanted some sniper practice. Now's your chance."

Cal nodded. "I'm ready." On the back of the saddle, his rifle was tucked away in its sling. It was a Spencer that he modified and put a scope on it. He hadn't had a chance to use it for more than target practice, but it did a number on watermelons half a mile away, so he was eager for the opportunity to use it.

Eventually, the gang rode down into a canyon that had caves and places where they could easily hide. Brisco and Cal stopped their horses a little ways from the edge.

Cal pulled out his rifle and crouched low, getting closer to the precipice. "Let's survey from here and see where they're going. I'm hoping not far, because this would be a perfect place to set up and pick them off if necessary."

"I'd like to bring them in alive if possible," Brisco said as he got down on his belly and crawled with Cal to the point where they could see into the large open space below.

"Twelve guys. You're going to take in twelve guys. Yeah, that I'd like to see." Cal scoffed. "Not even your dad could do it. He had a whole posse to help him!"

Brisco gave him a look. He didn't need to be reminded of Bly's gang and how they murdered his father during an elaborate escape from the train that was transporting them to prison.

"I'd like us to get Sara out of there safe and sound, no matter what the enemy casualty rate."

The corner of Brisco's mouth tipped up. "I just got an idea."

"What? What is it?"

"I remember seeing on one of those shows on television about how the game wardens used tranquilizer guns to take down nuisance critters that were endangered, and move them to another location when they were sleeping. Could you do that?"

"What? Are you insane, Brisco? This is not a tranquilizer gun! I don't know if you can even get one in this time, and if you could, you sure won't find one around here." Cal cocked the rifle and tightened the scope. "No, we're gonna instill a little fear of God in 'em. Then maybe they'll give up Sara. In the meantime, I think we need to round up a posse."

"You want me to go back to town and leave you here alone? Cal..."

"I'll be fine. Don't worry."

"Just don't kill them all before I get back, okay? I mean, there's killing and then there's massacreing." Brisco looked at him warily.

"Brisco. When I was in the Army, I was in Special Forces. I was trained to make sure the ones who are supposed to be dead are dead, and the ones who are supposed to be rescued are rescued safely."

"That's what I was afraid of. Don't just do it in cold blood, that's all I'm asking."

Cal nodded. "You got it. Maybe by the time you get back you'll find a bunch of volunteers already waiting for a posse party."

Brisco nodded and threw himself up into Comet's saddle. He tore off without looking back at Cal, silently praying that he knew what he was doing. He didn't know much about these Special Forces soldiers, because Cal said most of what they did was classified. However, from what he did tell him, Brisco got the impression they worked with the precision of a sharp knife: quick, silent, and deadly.

Cal watched through his scope at the action going on in camp. He would hold his fire for now, but if he saw anyone try to hurt Sara or attack her in any way, he would shoot them. He hid the barrel of the rifle between two rocks, and he had enough space for the scope to have a clear view. They bound Sara's arms and legs and sat her on a rock. She was crying, and the one who appeared to be the leader grasped her chin and tilted it up to speak to her. She shook her head and his face turned cold.

"Give me a reason, scumbag. Just give me a reason." Cal muttered under his breath as he trained on the ugly melon perched on his shoulders. He shifted the rifle for better comfort. If needed, he could keep that pose all day, as long as it resulted in Sara's safe rescue.

One of the other gang members offered her a plate of food, but she couldn't eat it by herself. Not that she wanted to. She again shook her head, and when the man got closer, she suddenly stood and used her shoulder to knock him away.

"Woah, you go girl!"

But she received a slap as her reward from the one who offered her the plate. Cal heard hooves pounding behind him, and it was more than one horse. They had support, so he could commence firing any time. Now was just as good a time as any. He pulled the trigger and the gun fired, a solid echo racing around the canyon. As the gang looked up, the target cried out as the bullet sliced into his back and he dropped to the ground.

"Alright, everyone ring the canyon, now!" Brisco ordered them softly, and the riders took up positions at regular intervals.

"I can't believe they were this stupid to take shelter in a canyon," Cal said to Brisco when he returned to his side.

"How did you do?"

"One down. Shot him in the back, and he's not moving."

"That was pretty risky with Sara being so close." Brisco watched the scene in the canyon. The eleven remaining gang members scrambled for cover. The leader dragged Sara into a cave and forced one of his lackeys to watch her. "If there was a way to get down there without being seen, we could grab Sara and pull her out."

"Like rappel down, you mean?"

"Rappel?"

"Yeah." Cal waved one of the posse over to their position. "Roscoe, you take over here. Brisco and I have a plan."

Roscoe took up Cal's position with his own gun, and Cal and Brisco ran over to their mounts. Completely at a loss, Brisco asked, "What's our plan?"

Cal stuffed his rifle into its protective case. "Here, hang onto this." He opened a saddle bag, took out two harnesses and a couple of ropes, and gave them to Brisco. Then he checked his handgun to be sure it was fully loaded, silently missing his Beretta with its magazine of bullets. "Okay, this is what I want to do, but I'm gonna need some help from the guys on the east side of the canyon. So I want you to tell them to start firing in about three minutes. That should be enough time for me to get the rope tied up onto the sturdy tree over there and have my gear ready." He paused. "Then, while all the firing is going on, I'll rappel down to the bottom of the canyon, get Sara, and put a harness on her. Then I'll need a couple of guys to pull her up fast, because I'll be climbing back up on my own. And the others can't give up firing all that time. Think they can do it?"

"That's a lot of ammunition."

"Well, if you have a better plan, let me know. I'm all ears."

Brisco shook his head. "Good luck, Cal."

"Thanks." He grabbed Brisco's rifle. "You take my Spencer. I need something a little more portable for the descent." Without another word, Cal slipped the rifle into an over the shoulder holster, ran over to the tree, and secured the lines. He put one of the harnesses on, threaded the rope through a clip on the front, and approached the edge. While he prepared, Brisco ran around the canyon rim to instruct the men on the south and east sides. When Cal nodded, Brisco yelled.

"Everybody fire for distraction only!"

Rifles cracked and the echo off the canyon walls was deafening. Cal leaped off the edge and went down face first so he could shoot at anyone who may have seen him. One guy turned and raised his gun, but that was the last thing he did as Brisco himself picked him off using Cal's scoped rifle.

"Very fancy," Brisco muttered as he readied another shot and stared through the scope, searching for another threat.

Cal reached the bottom and holstered the rifle. He pulled out his revolver and fired at another gang member who approached him with his own weapon raised. He zigged and zagged using rocks for cover until he reached the cave where Sara was kept. The guard was barely an adult. He sprung from his hiding place when the kid had his back turned, and he knocked him out with a couple of chops to the neck and back of the head.

"Cal! You came for me!"

"Of course! Brisco and I wouldn't let anything happen to you." Cal pulled out a sharp knife and cut the ropes that bound her. "Are you okay to stand?"

"Yes, I think so."

"Good." He grabbed her hand. "Come on, let's go."

They trotted back to where the ropes waited. "Ohhh, Cal, you want me to climb up there?"

"Don't worry, there are people who will pull you up and I'll be right there with you. You just have to get into this, and they'll do the rest."

Sara was scared, but when she looked back at the chaos in the area behind her, she knew this was her only hope. Cal held out the harness so she could step into it. Her skirts bunched up in a most unladylike fashion, but that was the least of their problems at the moment. He also had to reach down into areas where a gentleman didn't normally go, but these were extenuating circumstances, and Sara handled it with unbelievable grace.

"Okay, you're set. Just hang onto that rope and don't let go, okay?" She nodded. He yanked on it, and the men up top started pulling her to the rim of the canyon.

Someone below fired at her, and Cal shot back, hitting his target square in the chest. He went down. He holstered his gun, attached the harness to the rope, and began climbing to the top. It had been awhile since he had to climb like this. His muscles screamed in pain before he reached the top. He wanted to rush to the end of the line, but the ones pulling her up were taking too long. He had to stay beside Sara and cover her, even to the point of dropping a little lower and moving over to shield her from those below. He fired down at someone trying to shoot directly up at them, and he ran out of bullets. He was in no position to reload, so he stuck his useless gun into its holster.

A bullet kicked up some stone shards next to his right foot. Cal wanted to scream obscenities at them, but he'd been in this time long enough to know that you didn't win any points with a lady, or her daddy, if you used such words even in the heat of battle.

"Cal! Take my gun!"

Cal looked up and saw Brisco directly above him about twelve feet. They were almost to the top. He dropped his piece, and Cal caught it, flipped it in his hand and pulled back the hammer. He normally shot right handed, but he could switch if necessary, and he did. Their assailant backed off after three shots threatened to give his hat, and head, a little free air conditioning.

From above, Brisco aimed with the scope and picked off another member of the gang. The survivors were trying to get out of the canyon by storming the posse, but he wouldn't let them hurt his men. He fired at them and they kept running. Cal and Sara reached the top at the same time. She crawled onto the ledge with his body closely hugging hers until she was safely on solid ground. Then he climbed up and away from the edge

"Are you okay, Cal?"

"Yeah, I'm good. Nice coverage, BC!"

Brisco smiled. "Nice rifle, Cal. I might have to have you make up one of these for me. The precision is unbelievable!"

"The secret is the scope."

"It certainly made it easy to find a good target."

The men turned to see where Sara was. She stood near the tree, the harness removed and her skirts back down to normal. Her father enveloped her in his arms, and her mother stood nearby caressing her long hair. Somewhere along the way, the stylish Gibson girl hairstyle she normally wore had come down. Cal watched the tender family scene and thought she looked a lot better with her hair that way. He wished he could touch it. It always looked so silky smooth and inviting. He was ashamed of himself for thinking that way, when the girl was almost nearly killed by kidnappers. But the firing had almost stopped, and the crisis nearly over. Still, he snapped himself back into battle mode and he and Brisco apprehended the five gang members who survived the onslaught. A wagon hauled them back to Sunset Ridge, and for once in a long time, the cells were occupied that night.

Cal sent Brisco home to his wife, and he stayed behind to guard them.

"I'll have Lou bring you some supper," Brisco promised.

"Good, because lunch got lost somewhere between your house and here earlier today." His stomach growled.

Brisco laughed. "She'll be by soon, I promise."

But it wasn't Lou who delivered him a meal. Cal heard a knock on the door a few minutes after Brisco left, and he opened it to find Sara standing with a tray covered by a checked cloth. "Sara!"

"H-hi, Cal. I brought you supper. I wasn't sure if you went to the restaurant or... or ate whatever they brought over for the prisoners. It's nothing fancy, just some fried chicken and cornbread with some buttered green beans. And a little tea to wash it all down."

"Wow. Thanks. I really appreciate it!" He stepped aside so she could set the tray on his desk. With a flourish, she exposed the plate. "Oh, that looks great. Did you make this?"

"I sure did. Mama made the cherry pie, but I did everything else." Her eyes flashed with unshed tears. "What you did today, Cal, why, it was simply amazing! My father was quite impressed that you did something so risky to save me. Especially when you used your body to block any bullets that might have been meant for me. Thank you."

"Y-you're welcome," he replied, suddenly feeling self-conscious and as flustered as a school boy. It didn't help that they had an audience in the cells. They cat-called and whistled at her. Their crassness only served to get a rise out of Cal, but rather show his anger, he gently grasped her arm and took her outside.

They could see their breaths in the air, and Sara held her wrap closer around herself.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"I'm sorry about them. The Muldoons aren't known for their manners."

Sara smiled up at him. He noticed that her hair was still down, and he couldn't help himself. He reached out and touched it, lightly running his hand down the gentle curls. All the while, she kept her eyes focused on his and a wide smile crossed her face. Her hair was just as soft as he'd imagined, and it was all he could do to keep himself from dipping his head to kiss her.

She must have seen the desire in his eyes, because she suddenly dropped her head and broke their gaze. Then she looked up at him with adoration. "Daddy wanted me to ask you if you would come to late lunch Sunday...after church."

Cal smiled. So that's how the Reverend wanted to play this. It wasn't enough that he'd risked his life for the guy's daughter. Now he wanted Cal to jump through hoops, attend church, and then be rewarded with a nice chaperoned meal with Sara. No matter. He was willing to play along. When they came so close to losing her, after the action died down and they had the Muldoons in jail, he'd had a little time to think. The Cons side of that list for whether he should fight for Lou simply became longer, and his attraction to Sara became clearer.

By the time Dixie was due to have her baby, there was another wedding in the works, just as Bowler predicted. Only it wasn't Lou and Socrates. Despite their growing affections, they took it slow and conservatively. It was Cal and Sara who walked the aisle, and the Reverend himself officiated at his daughter's wedding.

Brisco and Dixie sat on the groom's side watching the proceedings. He'd never seen Cal look so nervous before. Knowing who his father-in-law would be, well, that had to strike fear in any man. He had some high expectations to live up to. Brisco turned toward Dixie with love in his eyes, and she caressed his arm. He was so blessed to have her, and very soon they would be a family. It felt good. But it was scary, too. Almost as frightening as it was the day he rode behind that truck into the future to run head-long into the coming thing. Only this time, the coming thing would hurt a lot less and provide a lifetime of love.

"I now pronounce you man and wife." Reverend Hart paused. "Well boy, aren't you gonna kiss my daughter?"

The church erupted into laughter. Cal blushed, pulled back the veil, and gave Sara the first of many kisses that they would share in their lives.


End file.
